Soccer opens season with shutout at North Carolina-Greensboro

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Arkansas opened the 2019 campaign with a 3-0 win at UNC-Greensboro on Thursday night.

The Razorbacks outshot the Spartans by a 27-2 margin, including a 14-1 edge in the shots on goal category.

How it happened

• Taylor Malham got on the end of a Stefani Doyle and Anna Podojil connection as she found the back of the goal in the 63rd-minute to put Arkansas up 1-0.

• Bryana Hunter gathered in a rebound close to the six-yard box and put it past the Spartan ‘keeper to extend the Razorback lead to 2-0 in the 78th minute.

• Just six minutes later, junior Parker Goins added another insurance goal for the Razorbacks as she connected on an open strike from the right-hand side.

The run of play

After a short warm-up due to a lightning delay, the Razorbacks put the pressure on UNC-Greensboro early in the first half, earning a pair of corners in the opening four minutes with Marissa Kinsey having her shot blocked on one of the opportunities.

Freshman Anna Podojil earned a shot near the top of the box that sailed just over the cross bar in the 18th-minute as the Razorbacks led in shots 11-1.

Arkansas’ best chance in the opening stanza came in the 22nd-minute as the ball bounced around in the six-yard box with Hunter getting a touch on the ball but the Spartan goalie saving it on the line.

After a stretch of good passing from the Razorbacks in the 39th-minute, Abbi Neece found herself with a path to the goal but couldn’t get enough behind it.

Arkansas headed to the locker room in a scoreless draw, 0-0, but dominating the shot battle 13-2.

Doyle then barely missed putting the Razorbacks in front in the 60th-minute, just missing right of the goal after picking up a rebound from the Razorbacks eighth corner of the match.

Malham finally earned the breakthrough goal for Arkansas, getting on the end of ball from Doyle, as she beat Spartan goalie Aiyanah Tyler-Cooper to her right side.

The Razorbacks would then add two more goals in the final 30 minutes to walk away with a 3-nil victory in Greensboro, N.C.

Hear it from Hale

“It was a good start to the season. We will watch film and find some areas we need to grow. We had some objectives for each line and we felt good about those for today. We won, which is always the goal – we scored three nice goals and we limited them to two shots. It was a complete team effort.”

Next up

The Razorbacks will welcome the Oklahoma Sooners to Razorback Field on Sunday, August 25.

First kick is set for 6 p.m. and Arkansas will host a Back to School Block Party for fans starting at 4:30.