Razorbacks beat Mississippi State in SEC soccer semifinals, but fall in championship to Georgia
PENSACOLA, Fla. — The 10th-ranked Arkansas women’s soccer team lost 1-0 to Georgia in the Southeastern Conference Tournament finals on Sunday.
PENSACOLA, Fla. — The 10th-ranked Arkansas women’s soccer team lost 1-0 to Georgia in the Southeastern Conference Tournament finals on Sunday.
The Razorbacks beat Mississippi State 2-0 in the semifinals on Thursday night.
In Sunday’s SEC final, the Razorbacks gave up an own goal in the seventh minute and did not get on the board despite outshooting the Bulldogs 187. Arkansas forced Georgia goalkeeper Jordan Brown to make seven saves.
The Hogs came close to tying the game with 1:30 remaining in the match. Freshman midfielder Kennedy Ball sent a cross to the back post and connected with freshman forward Bella Field, but Field’s header went just over the crossbar.
Midfielders Bea Franklin and Makenzie Malham and forward Ava Tankersley were named to the event’s All-Tournament Team.
In the semifinal match win over MSU, Tankersley scored the opener in the 13th minute after being left unmarked in the 18-yard box. Graduate forward Anna Podojil sent in a cross from outside the box that Kiley Dulaney headed down to Tankersley who readied and fired off her right foot past Mississippi State goalkeeper Maddy Anderson.
Freshman goalkeeper Phoebe Carver picked up her sixth clean sheet of the season and came up with a big diving save in the 53rd minute to keep the Bulldogs off the board. Carver and the Arkansas defense have yet to allow a goal in the tournament.
Graduate forward Morgan White netted the dagger with five minutes to play, her second goal of the tournament and her eighth goal of the season. White linked up with Franklin at the top of the penalty box where White shot it over a diving Anderson.
The Razorbacks finished the match ahead in shots 17-7 and corner kicks 8-1.
The Hogs found out that they were seeded second in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, which matches the highest seed awarded in program history.
The tenth-ranked Razorbacks (14-42) will face off against the Grambling (15-4-4) at 6:30 p.m. Friday. The Tigers are coming off a Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament championship. The two teams last met in 2004 in Huntsville, Ala., where Arkansas won 4-0.
The winner of Friday’s match will play the winner of Pittsburgh and Ohio State in the second round.
