No. 14 Arkansas Opens SEC Play at Mississippi State

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – No. 14 Arkansas soccer (5-1-1) begins conference play on Friday, Sept. 16 and will face the unbeaten Mississippi State (6-0-1) Bulldogs. First kick is set for 6:30 p.m. and the match will air on SEC Network Plus.

The Hogs completed non-conference play with a road trip out west and tied with No. 13 BYU and shut out Grand Canyon, 3-0. Senior forward Anna Podojil scored three of Arkansas’ six goals on the week and earned multiple national and league honors, including the United Soccer Coaches National Player of the Week.

Scouting the Bulldogs 

Mississippi State finished its non-conference slate unbeaten with notable wins over Minnesota and Southern Miss. The squad has allowed only two goals this season giving them the sixth lowest goals against average in the country and the second lowest in the conference.

They are coming off a 4-0 shutout victory over Presbyterian on Sunday, Sept. 11. The Bulldogs are led by reigning SEC Freshman of the Week Maggie Wadsworth who leads the team in goals (4), points (10) and game-winning goals (3), and she is tied for the team lead in shots on goal (11).

Mississippi State ended non-conference play with a 4-0 victory over Presbyterian, its fifth of the season.

Match Info
Opponent: Mississippi State (6-0-2)
First Kick: 6:30 p.m. CT
Links: Live Stats | Live Stream SECN+ (Anthony Craven and Bart Gregory)

Quick Kicks

• Arkansas owns a 23-3-1 record over Mississippi State. The Hogs are 10-2-1 when playing in Starkville.
• Since 2019, the Hogs are 17-4-2 on the road. This season, they are 2-1-1.
• The Razorbacks own a 51-9-2 home record dating back to 2016. Eight of those 51 victories are over ranked teams.
• The Razorbacks currently lead the conference in shot accuracy (.524).
• Anna Podojil was named United Soccer Coaches National Player of the Week, SEC Offensive Player of the Week and put on TopDrawerSoccer’s Team of the Week for her performances against BYU and Grand Canyon.
• Arkansas was ranked No. 14 in the United Soccer Coaches poll and No. 9 in the TopDrawerSoccer poll coming into conference play.
• The Hogs were ranked in the top 10 to start the season and came in at No. 8 in the United Soccer Coaches poll and No. 9 in TopDrawerSoccer’s preseason poll.
• The Razorbacks were selected to finish second in the conference by the league’s head coaches.
• Arkansas’ 2022 roster contains 15 newcomers: 12 freshmen and 3 transfers.
• Arkansas advanced to its first NCAA Elite 8 last season.
• Senior Anna Podojil was named to USC’s Forwards to Watch, and TopDrawerSoccer’s Preseason Best XI First Team and the No. 2 player on their preseason top 100 watch list.
• Anna Podojil, Bryana Hunter, Bea Franklin, Jessica De Filippo and Ellie Podojil joined the SEC Preseason Watch List.

The Hogs will play at Razorback Field for the first time in 18 days when they face Auburn on Thursday, Sept. 22. The match will air on SEC Network.

For more information on Arkansas Soccer, follow @RazorbackSoccer on Twitter.