Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story
No. 10 Arkansas soccer kicks off its 40th season tonight, and the Razorbacks aren’t easing into things.
They’ll open against Baylor, a team that reached the Sweet 16 last fall, in a matchup at Razorback Field that marks the first time either program has entered the meeting ranked.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and fans can catch the action on SEC Network+, with Brett Dolan calling play-by-play alongside analyst Kelly Hellbusch
Arkansas coach Colby Hale carries a strong track record into openers. He’s 10-4-0 in season openers and a perfect 2-0-0 against Baylor, with a win in Fayetteville and another in Waco already on his resume.
Against Big 12 opponents overall, Hale sits at 12-3-2 since taking over the program in 2012.
The Hogs and Bears have squared off five times since their first meeting back in 1986, and Arkansas holds a commanding 15-5 scoring edge across that stretch.
Baylor hasn’t played in Fayetteville since 2018, when the Razorbacks pulled out a 3-2 win.
This year’s Arkansas roster brings back eight starters and nearly 80 percent of last season’s offense, having scored 27 of the team’s 34 goals a year ago.
The Razorbacks also carry a six-game home winning streak into Wednesday and have gone 47-3-5 in their last 55 matches at Razorback Field dating to 2020.
Baylor isn’t walking in unprepared either. Coach Michelle Lenard’s squad went 14-5-4 last season, the deepest postseason run for the program since 2018, and 18 players are back from that group.
Goalkeeper Azul Alvarez returns after posting a dozen shutouts and playing all but 22 minutes a year ago. The Bears are already drawing votes in this week’s national poll.
A schedule built for a deep run
Arkansas won’t have much time to settle in.
The Razorbacks are scheduled to face five ranked opponents this fall, including No. 8 North Carolina, No. 16 LSU, No. 19 Georgia, No. 24 Tennessee and No. 25 Clemson.
Eight total opponents on this year’s slate made last season’s NCAA Tournament field, a group that includes Alabama and Kentucky along with Baylor and the other ranked foes.
The Hogs also got a look at live competition this preseason, beating Kansas City 3-0 before falling 2-0 on the road to No. 21 Memphis.
Sophomore Vailana Tu’ua scored twice in a four-minute span in that opener, and senior Bella Field added a header shortly after.
Arkansas also went undefeated across five spring matches, outscoring opponents 15-1, with Aniyah Nurse-Whyte leading the way with three goals.
Keegan Smith anchors the back line
Junior goalkeeper Keegan Smith has become one of the steadiest parts of the Arkansas roster since arriving in 2024.
She tied the program’s single-season shutout record with 11 as a freshman and posted the second-lowest goals-against average in school history.
Smith shut out seven of the team’s 10 SEC regular-season opponents that year and helped Arkansas reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2022.
A hip flexor injury cost her 11 games in 2025, but she returned for the NCAA Tournament opener and finished with 14 career shutouts.
Arkansas enters this season ranked No. 10 nationally and picked to finish second in the SEC by the league’s coaches. The Razorbacks have been ranked in every poll since September 2022, a streak now at 204 weeks.
This marks the seventh straight year Arkansas has opened inside the top two of the preseason rankings, trailing only Vanderbilt in this year’s poll.
Key takeaways
- Arkansas opens its 40th season Wednesday against Baylor in the first ranked meeting between the two programs
- The Razorbacks return eight starters and nearly 80 percent of last year’s scoring output
- Junior goalkeeper Keegan Smith and the Hogs’ 47-3-5 home record since 2020 give Arkansas a clear edge at Razorback Field
