GAINESVILLE, Fla.  –  It came right down to the end, but Gator soccer was edged 3-2 by No. 9 Arkansas Thursday at the Donald R. Dizney Stadium.
 
The Arkansas at Florida match was the opening event across the league for Southeastern Conference action as most of the teams begin tomorrow night.
 
This Evening’s Scoring:
Arkansas struck early in the fourth minute with Nuria Craig one-touched it in from 12-yards off the assist from Kennedy Ball.
 
The Razorbacks pushed it out to a 3-0 halftime lead when Vailana Tu’ua scored twice in less than a minute.
 
The first came after Tu’ua drove through the Florida half into the box to take a right-footed shot from eight yards.
 
Fifty-five seconds later, a give-and-go between Tu’ua and Ball resulted in Tu’ua’s brace. The play started with Tu’ua continuing her run after finding Ball above the box. The angled ball played back to Tu’ua was one-touched with her left foot at 35:47.
 
Florida scored early in the second half after Aniyah Nurse-Whyte fouled freshman Kai Tsakiris just inside the top of the box. Tsakiris took the penalty kick to score her second goal of the season.
 
Another penalty kick awarded after Makenzie Malham was whistled for a hand ball in the box at 68:15. Florida’s Madison Jones successfully converted the penalty kick to cut the UA advantage to a single goal.
 
Florida had opportunities to tie the match, including in the 74^th minute when Hess blocked a Razorback clearance attempt midway through the UA half. That ball flew high toward the end line but curled in on the bounce. Hess followed the ball and sent a cross to find fellow freshman Katie Johnston open on the far side of the box. Her hard shot was saved by UA’s goalkeeper Keegan Smith.
 
With just over a minute left, Florida’s Abby Gemma brought the ball out and found Megan Hinnenkamp located about 10 yards above the Gators’ box. She headed through the field before playing it through to Hess making a run in the box. Smith came off her line to collide with Hess, blocking the would-be-tying shot.

 

Coach Bohon Said:

“We were really disappointed in the quality of goals we gave up in the first half. You just can’t make it easier for them. Some of that’s learning – the SEC versus non-conference. But I’m so proud of the response coming out of half time. The whole second half is a totally different ball game. Lot of teams could have kind of folded it up and gotten frustrated. And I just felt like our team just really kind of got tight and decided they were going to fight no matter what. I’m really proud of them. Listen, I believe in this group. I think that they can do some really special things this year. We just got to put 90 minutes together and not 45.

 

“You could see in the second half we made a little bit of a tactical adjustment. I actually think it paid off really, really well.

 

“I think this group is going to learn from this, and I think we’re going to get better for Oklahoma.” – Florida Head Coach Samantha Bohon

 

Records:

Florida: 4-4, 0-1 SEC

Arkansas: 3-2-2, 1-0 SEC

 

Series Record:

Florida leads 22-6

 

Next Up:

Southeastern Conference action continues next week when Florida travels to meet No. 20 Oklahoma. Oklahoma is one of the 25 undefeated teams among the 346 NCAA Division I teams this season. The Sooners defeated then No. 22 Oklahoma State 4-1 in the season’s second match. OU defeated Creighton (4-1), East Texas A&M (4-0), Tulsa (4-1), Louisiana Tech (3-0), North Texas (1-0) and Nebraska-Omaha (5-1) with the lone tie coming at Texas State (1-1). The Sooners open league play at Kentucky Friday. 

 

at No. 20 Oklahoma

Date: Thursday, Sept. 18

Time/Site: 7 p.m. ET at John Crain Field

TV: SEC Network

Live Stats

Admission: Free

 

No. 9 Arkansas (3-2-2, 1-0 SEC) at Florida (4-4, 0-1 SEC)

Stadium: Donald R. Dizney Stadium (718)

Weather: 84 degrees, partly sunny, winds ENE at 8 mph

 

 
Scoring Summary:

 
Shots: ARK 11; Florida 10
Saves: ARK 4 (Keegan Smith 4); Florida 3 (Paloma Peña 2; Jayden Emmanuel 0; TEAM 1)
 
Offsides: ARK 1; Florida 1
 
Cautions:
Makenzie Malham-ARK (29:00) – yellow; Zoe Susi-ARK (75:38) – yellow