FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas soccer ended its preseason with an influx of goals and defeated junior college Seminole (Okla.) State College 9-0 in its final exhibition Sunday.
The final score reflected the match tilt, with eight scorers — Macy Schultz, an own goal, Cora Hair, Kate Doyle, Lily Boydstun, Ava Tankersley, Kelsey Oyler and two from Zoe Susi — on the nine goals that lifted the Razorbacks to an unbeaten preseason. They outshot Seminole State 33-5.
“That’s probably going to be us this year,” Arkansas coach Colby Hale said. “We have a lot of good attacking players, and on any given day it could be someone who is creating their chances. We’ve just got to keep getting better.”
“I think that’s pretty huge,” Susi added. “When we scout teams, there’s maybe one or two forwards that we’re like, ‘Hey, we’ve got to target these two people, they’re their main scorers.’ If we keep that up all season, I think it’s going to be really hard for teams to defend us.”
Hale wanted match fitness, work with set pieces, building and speed of play and running into the box.
“We’ve just got to keep building,” he said. “We’ve scored some goals and stuff, but we’re definitely going to focus on the things we need to get better at instead of the things we did well and stay sharp and edgy.”
Arkansas defeated its Division I fall exhibition opponents by a combined score of 11-2. Following the demolition of Seminole State, the No. 2-ranked NJCAA program from last season’s final coaches poll, the Razorbacks now turn their attention to Thursday’s regular-season opener against NAIA No. 20 John Brown — which Arkansas beat 6-1 in a spring friendly.
Little can be drawn from the one-sided evening, but there are conclusions to be drawn from the exhibition slate as a whole.
The Razorbacks’ 20 preseason goals showed their capability in front of goal, with the two conceded goals showing potential on the defensive end. Their attack, which allowed them to control possession for the vast majority of the three matches, prepared them for a regular season in which they will likely have to play through several low blocks.
“The main thing we try to focus on is our runs into the box,” Susi said. “After our first game, our runs looked a lot better. … When we watch film, we do have a lot of runners now. I feel like that’s definitely helping us, having numbers up.”
Following the 6-1 win over Kansas State, Hale said Arkansas’ defense was “very individual” in the first half. He wanted more communication from his outside backs and midfielders, which was better in the second half.
Hale said he didn’t think the communication was better Sunday.
The Razorbacks fell behind in each of their first two exhibitions with Hale attributing the Wildcats’ opener to a defensive mistake on his team’s part.
“We’ve got to get better at communicating,” Hale said. “The relationships between the different players on the field needs to get a little bit tighter and better.”
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Publish date : 2024-08-11 15:46:00
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