Razorbacks win spring opener on Malham’s header

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas picked up where it left off last season in its 2018 spring opener by defeating SEC foe Mississippi State, 1-0, at Razorback Field.

With the great weather in the Northwest Arkansas area, Arkansas and Mississippi State were able to play in front of a lively crowd at Razorback Field

Sophomore-to-be Taylor Malham scored the lone goal off a header in the 31^st minute off a perfectly placed corner kick from Parker Goins. Malham is fresh off a six-goal season from a year ago where she finished second on the team and had two assists.

Goins led the team in assists and goals in 2017. Her nine goals were also good for a tie for fifth in the SEC.

“There were three areas we wanted to evaluate ourselves on in this match: mentality, our pressing or team defending, and the ‘danger zone’, which is the attacking third and making things happen in the run of play,” Arkansas coach Colby Hale said. “I thought our mentality was tremendous today. This was not your normal spring game. It was very competitive and very physical. I thought we did well and rose to the challenge.

“We were a moment or two away from three or four goals today,” Hale said. “We created a lot from the run of play that could have given us more. There were a lot of positives that we’ll take with us into practice next week. We’ll watch the video and look at some things we need to get better at and get back to work on it.”

After Malham’s goal took the match into halftime, the Razorback defense took over and, seemingly, never gave the Bulldogs an opportunity to try and even the match.

“I thought the pressing piece was very good,” Hale said. “It was good to the point where they (Mississippi State) didn’t even try to play around the back in the second half and it caused a lot of trouble for them.”

Arkansas’ next spring match will be on March 30 when it takes on the Tulsa Soccer Club U15 Boys’ Team at Razorback Field. First kick time is to be determined.

2018 Razorback Spring Soccer Schedule