Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.
No. 20 Arkansas soccer closed the regular season with a 3-0 loss at Kentucky on Sunday afternoon in Lexington, Kentucky.
The result ended the Razorbacks’ three-game winning streak.
It also dropped Arkansas out of the top four in the SEC standings. That hadn’t happened since 2017.
Both teams finished 5-2-3 in league play. Kentucky holds the tiebreaker, which puts the Hogs at the No. 5 seed for the conference tournament.
Arkansas fell to 7-5-4 overall. Kentucky improved to 9-5-3.
The Razorbacks will open the SEC Tournament against No. 12 seed Florida at 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8, in Pensacola, Florida.
Arkansas beat Florida 2-1 when the teams met Oct. 18 in Fayetteville. The game-winning goal came in the final second.
The Hogs pushed forward early in Sunday’s match.
Arkansas earned four corner kicks in the first 15 minutes. It didn’t score on any of them.
Kentucky broke through on a corner kick of its own in the 33rd minute.
Teagan Myers sent the ball into the box. Reyna Powers headed it in from the top of the six-yard box.
The Wildcats added a second goal six minutes later. Nadia Ramadan’s shot hit the post, and Elise Ernest scored on the rebound.
Kentucky led 2-0 at halftime. The Wildcats outshot the Razorbacks 11-2 in the first half.
Ernest set up Kentucky’s third goal in the 66th minute. Her cross found Kyla Dawn, who redirected the ball past Arkansas goalkeeper Keegan Smith.
It was Dawn’s 11th goal of the season. The freshman is a candidate for SEC Freshman of the Year.
Ernest was involved in two of Kentucky’s three goals.
The Wildcats finished with a 16-7 advantage in shots for the match.
The Hogs had their best scoring chances in the final 10 minutes.
Freshman forward Lauren Van Rhein put a shot on frame. Kentucky goalkeeper Megan Holland made the save. She finished with five saves. It was her fourth shutout of the season.
Freshman defender Londyn Green also had a shot that hit the crossbar.
The Razorbacks return to action against Florida on Nov. 8 in Pensacola.
