Hogs Shutout by Florida for Third SEC Loss
The Arkansas soccer team suffered a 4-0 shutout loss against the No. 24 Florida Gators Sunday after dishing out a 1-0 shutout win against Tennessee on Friday.
The Arkansas defense and sophomore goalkeeper Sam Wolf held off Tennessee’s offense for the duration of the game, but they couldn’t keep Florida’s offense from scoring three goals out of five attempted shots in the first 45 minutes
Wolf had saved two shots before Florida’s Annie Speese scored from 15 yards out off of a pass from Maggie Rodgers in the 17th minute of play to put Florida up 1-0.
Twelve minutes later, a free kick sent the Gators up 2-0. Florida’s Christen Westphal took the kick at midfield and sent it inside the box to Holly King, who shot the goal from the 4-yard line.
Arkansas tried to put points on the board with passes between junior forward Yvonne DesJarlais and sophomore forward Jeriann Okoro in the 25th minute and between Okoro, freshman forward Ashleigh Ellenwood and senior forward Allie Chandler in the seventh minute, but to no avail.
Florida struck again at 36:24 when Annie Bobbitt passed to McKenzie Barney, sending her through the defense for a one-on-one shot against Wolf. Her shot landed in the left corner of the net and cushioned the Gator’s lead 3-0.
“We fixed some things for the second half and put in the energy,” head coach Colby Hale said. “It was 45 minutes for us to play a quality team and get better.”
The Razorbacks kicked off the second half with an early shot attempt from Okoro. The shot flew over the net, though, leaving Arkansas scoreless.
Wolf blocked a shot from inside the box with the help of redshirt freshman defender Margaret Power in minute 62.
In the 78th minute, Ellenwood split a pair of defenders to take a shot, but the ball went too far to the left. One minute later, Wolf made a save on a shot from 10 yards away.
In the final 10 minutes of play, Arkansas set themselves up with multiple scoring opportunities, including a foul with a free kick and two corner kicks.
The Razorbacks had a handball in the last minute of play, giving Florida a penalty kick. Tatiana Perez scored the final goal for the Gators in the right corner of the net.
“We put extraordinary mental and physical effort and energy into the game on Friday,” said Hale. “We came out a touch flat and paid for it. Florida is an excellent team. They move the ball and we got caught chasing it.”
Florida came out of the game with 15 total shots, eight of which were on goal. Arkansas had five shots.
Arkansas’ record went down to 5-6-1 overall and 2-3-1 in the league.
The Razorbacks are back home this weekend for two more games. Vanderbilt visits Razorback Field 7 p.m. Friday, and the Hogs will play Alabama 1 p.m. Sunday.
