Arkansas opens home schedule against Omaha on Friday

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas opens the home portion of its schedule Friday night when it hosts Omaha at 7 p.m. at Razorback Field.

Following their match with the Mavericks, the team will hit the road south to take on McNeese State on Sunday at 4 p.m. in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

The match with the Cowgirls will be broadcast on Cox Sports and ESPN+.

Match Three Info
Opponent: Omaha Mavericks
Date: Friday, Aug. 24
First Kick: 7 p.m.
Live Stats: ArkansasRazorbacks.com
TV: None

Match Four Info
Opponent: McNeese St.
Location: Lake Charles, La.
Date: Sunday, Aug. 26
First Kick: 4 p.m.
Live Stats: McNeeseSports.com
TV: Cox Sports and ESPN+

Arkansas (1-0-1), fresh off its undefeated weekend at the Penn State Invitational, will be going for its ninth home-opening victory in the last 10 years.

Last week, the Razorbacks earned a season-opening shutout of Duquesne and then a draw with then-No. 9 West Virginia.

Junior Kayla McKeon provided the game-winner against the Dukes, while it was fellow junior Stefani Doyle who found the back of the net against the Mountaineers. Arkansas’ defense, however, was the story in both results.

For the first time in program history, Arkansas did not concede a single shot when Duquesne was unable to make an attempt last Friday. The Dukes only took two corners in the entire match as possession was kept heavily in Arkansas’ favor all afternoon.

As for the Mountaineers, sophomore goalkeeper Rachel Harris made a career-high nine saves and the only West Virginia goal came on a penalty kick in the 61^st minute.

Arkansas will look to continue its hot start defensively when it takes on Omaha and McNeese State. This weekend’s matches will be the first regular-season meetings between the two programs.

Tickets are available via the Razorback Ticket Office starting at $5 with kids 17 or younger getting in free. Fans can also buy season tickets for $25 and will receive a free 2018 Razorback Soccer scarf with their purchase.

Quick Kicks

• Arkansas opens its 2018 home schedule with Omaha on Friday night at Razorback Field. It will be the first time the Razorbacks and Mavericks have faced off in their programs’ histories.

• After Friday’s match, Arkansas goes back on the road to Lake Charles, Louisiana to take on McNeese State on Sunday. This will also be the first meeting between the two programs.

• The Razorbacks have come out victorious in eight of their last nine home openers dating back to 2009. Under Colby Hale, the Hogs have won five of their six home openers.

• In its last seven matches against top-10 opponents going back to 2016, Arkansas has won or tied four times. Sunday’s match against West Virginia was its second-straight result over a top-10 team.

• Sophomore goalkeeper Rachel Harris got the start in both matches last week and made a career-high nine saves in 96 minutes against the Mountaineers.

• Senior Carly Hoke and sophomore Haley VanFossen played all 110 minutes against West Virginia last week. For Hoke, it was the third time in her career she’s played the maximum amount of minutes in a match.

• The 1-0 shutout of Duquesne was the first season-opening clean sheet by a Razorback team since 2013 when it defeated Kansas, 1-0, on August 23.

• On Friday, Duquesne was not able to register a single shot in 90 minutes of play against Arkansas. It was the first time in program history an Arkansas team did not concede a shot in a match.

• The shutout over the Dukes was Arkansas’ sixth-straight victory via shutout going back to Oct. 5, 2017.

• Carly Hoke was named the SEC Defender of the Week on Monday after helping Arkansas to an undefeated weekend against Duquesne and No. 9 West Virginia. Hoke was in her first action since suffering a season-ending knee injury last year against Vanderbilt (Sept. 21).

• Juniors Kayla McKeon and Stefani Doyle provided both goals in last week’s matches. McKeon and Doyle combined for nine of Arkansas’ 44 goals a year ago. McKeon has scored a goal in two of three season-openers in her career.

• In Friday’s win over Duquesne, sophomore Brooke Pirkle logged a career-high 76 minutes in the midfield and made the third start of her career.

• Four Razorbacks made the SEC Preseason Watch List last week, including Stefani Doyle, Parker Goins, Haley VanFossen, and Taylor Malham.