Hogs’ soccer readying for opening week of games that count

FAYETTEVILLE — Since reporting August 1, Arkansas has been hard at work.

With 11 training sessions, two exhibition matches, numerous fitness tests and weightlifting sessions now behind them, it all starts to pay off when the 2018 season begins this Friday against Duquesne.

Arkansas will have to open the year on the road, however, as it will travel to State College, Pennsylvania to take part in the Penn State Invitational.

The Razorbacks won’t face the host school on this trip, but will get to face a top-10 opponent when they take on No. 9 West Virginia two days after facing the Dukes.

The home opener is next week against Nebraska-Omaha on Aug. 24.

With classes not set to begin until Aug. 20, the team has been able to put all of its focus on soccer. Seniors Carly Hoke and Reece Christopherson believe the team is well-prepared for the tough schedule ahead.

“I think we’re in a really good place,” Hoke said. “This preseason was set up differently from in the past. We were able to play a home game against Kansas State and then an away game at Nebraska. Those two teams are really good in their conference and we got to see a lot of our own problems early and get to solve it. That gives us a lot of confidence going into this weekend.”

“I think we have an advantage,” Christopherson said. “We’ve never played a game three days into the preseason like we did against Kansas State, so it helped. We got to play in a lot of different formations and test out which ones we liked and which ones we didn’t like and self-scout that way.”

Exhibition Match 1 – Kansas State vs. Arkansas (Razorback Field)
After only two days of actual practice as a team, the Razorbacks took the field against an outside opponent. Kansas State, just in its third season of existence as an official Division I program, was able to give the Hogs a good test out of the gate. Sophomore Taylor Malham provided the only score in the 1-0 Arkansas victory, but the most important thing was that many of the available players were able to play valuable minutes.

Exhibition Match 2 – Arkansas at Nebraska (Lincoln, Neb.)
Arkansas showcased its depth in its second exhibition against Nebraska, netting three goals while continuing to utilize the entire roster. Malham, once again, found the back of the net, but sophomore Abbi Neece and Tori Cannata also got in on the fun for the 3-1 victory.

Malham is coming off a busy summer competing with the US Women’s National U-19 team in Switzerland, but has not seemed to be slowing down.

Quick Soundbyte
“I think we are a lot deeper on our bench this year and are more confident with who we put out there. A lot of last year’s freshmen class were really strong, but now they’ve had a year to develop, get into our system and understand. We’ve gotten better as a team and there hasn’t been as big of a drop off like in the past.” – Senior Carly Hoke

“Everyone has gotten some really good minutes in so far. That’s been good because you can save legs for other games. We have a lot of younger girls that can step up this year.” – Senior Reece Christopherson

Arkansas Picked Sixth In Preseason SEC Coaches’ Poll
Earlier this week, the league coaches made their predictions on how they think the standings will shake out at season’s end. Arkansas, which finished 2017 as the eighth-place team, was selected two spots higher at sixth this week going into the 2018 opener.

The Razorbacks, who played in their second-consecutive SEC Tournament final last year, finished eighth in the conference in 2017 after compiling a 4-5-1 record. Arkansas has only finished lower than eighth once under head coach Colby Hale since his arrival in 2012.

Arkansas returns a total of 14 letter winners, including 12 starters after an 11-win team that appeared in its fourth NCAA Tournament in the last five years and a tallied a school record-tying 10 shutouts.

Doyle, VanFossen, Goins and Malham Selected To SEC Preseason Watch List

Four Razorbacks were picked as players to watch in the SEC this year. Junior Stefani Doyle, along with sophomores Parker Goins, Taylor Malham and Haley VanFossen all made the list that includes some of the best in the league.

Arkansas was one of 10 teams with four or more players named to the watch list and it’s the second-straight year for Doyle to earn the distinction.