Hogs’ final stretch starts with Mississippi State, Auburn matches

STARKVILLE, Miss. — With three matches to go in the regular season, Arkansas is in prime position to keep building its postseason resume as well as garner a high seed in the SEC Tournament.

First, the team must face No. 25 Mississippi State on the road on Thursday, before coming home to face Auburn in its final home match of the year.

Game time with the Bulldogs is set for 7 p.m. at the MSU Soccer Field and will be broadcast online on SEC Network+.

No. 21 Auburn comes to Fayetteville on Sunday and it will be Senior Day for Reece Christopherson, Carly Hoke ad Ellie Breden. 

Match 16 Info
Opponent: No. 25 Mississippi State Bulldogs
Date: Thursday, Oct. 18th
First Kick: 7 p.m.
Live Stats: http://bit.ly/2ypzkAL
TV: SECN+

Match 17 Info
Opponent: No. 21 Auburn Tigers
Date: Sunday, Oct. 21st
First Kick: 1 p.m.
Live Stats: http://bit.ly/2PFGx6i
TV: SECN+

Arkansas (10-3-2, 5-2-0 SEC) returned to the win column last week with a 4-0 win over Kentucky, its fifth shutout of the year.

The Razorbacks also managed to remain unbeaten at home at 8-0-1 this season and have locked up their third-straight 10-win season, fourth under coach Colby Hale.

Including this year, Arkansas has 10 10-win seasons in program history dating back to its first season in 1986.

Juniors Tori Cannata and Kayla McKeon have been taking turns in finding the back of the net and helping the Razorbacks stay towards the top in conference standings.

Eight of the last 12 Arkansas goals have come off the foot of either Cannata or McKeon with seven goals each on the year.

McKeon is now third in the conference and in the Top-25 in the nation after scoring her career-best fourth game-winning goal off a penalty kick last week and has a team-leading 16 points on the year.

While Cannata is having her best year as a Razorback scoring seven goals after only scoring a combined two in her first two years.

Defensively, Arkansas goalkeeper Taylor Beitz has been kept relatively clean after securing her fifth win in last week’s shutout over the Wildcats.

This year, the Razorback backline has limited opposing teams to 74 out of 145 shots on goals in comparison to the offense having 102 out of 250 shots finding their target.

Quick Kicks

• With three regular-season matches remaining, Arkansas will play its last double-match week as it travels to Starkville, Mississippi to take on the Bulldogs on Thursday and host its final home match against Auburn on Sunday.

• Arkansas currently sits alone in fourth place in the SEC standings with 15 points and a 5-2-0 conference record. The Razorbacks are only one point behind second-place Texas A&M and South Carolina and four back of leader Vanderbilt.

• Arkansas is still unbeaten at home this year at 8-0-1, including last week’s win over Kentucky. In its nine home games, the Razorbacks are averaging 2.4 goals per game and have four victories by two goals or more.

• Last week’s 4-0 win over Kentucky was Arkansas’ largest goal output of the season as all four goals were scored by a different player, including two who scored their first goals of the year (Emily Russell, Brooke Pirkle).

• With goals from Emily Russell and Brooke Pirkle against Kentucky, Arkansas has had 11 different players score at least one goals this year.

• After beating Kentucky last week, the Razorbacks locked up their third-straight 10-win season and fourth under head coach Colby Hale. It’s is history, Arkansas now has 10 10-win seasons since 1986.

• Until last week’s four-goal victory over the Wildcats, Arkansas’ previous four SEC victories came by one goal. This year, the Razorbacks are 6-1-0 in one-goal games.

• Juniors Kayla McKeon and Tori Cannata continue to lead the team in goals and points with three matches to go. Both are tied for the team lead with seven goals, while McKeon leads all Razorbacks with 16 points.

• Six of the last nine goals scored by Arkansas have come off the foot of either Tori Cannatta and Kayla McKeon. Arkansas is one of three teams with two players with seven or more goals this season.

• After scoring on the penalty kick in the 23rd minute last week against Kentucky, junior Kayla McKeon now has four game-winning goals this year, a career best.