Razorbacks Assemble Challenging 2017 Schedule

2017 Schedule (PDF)

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Coming off its third NCAA Tournament appearance in the last four years, the Razorback soccer team is inching closer to starting its 2017 campaign and has released this year’s schedule, which features plenty of marquee matchups.

Head coach Colby Hale enters his sixth season at the helm of the program and is the only coach in school history to take the Razorbacks to the NCAA Tournament. Last year’s team notched a program-record 18 wins that included a run to the SEC Tournament championship game and finished with a final national ranking of No. 16.

“2017 will bring some new challenges,” Hale said. “We have the players to be very successful and we understand it will take more than talent. We have created a culture of excellence and hard work and we know those standards are raised every year. All great teams have excellent player leadership and this team showed great promise there. It will be tested with the schedule we have put together.”

Six teams from last year’s tournament field will make up part of the schedule, headlined by 17-time Big Ten champion Penn State. The Nittany Lions will be the opponent for Arkansas’ home opener and are expected to be one of the top-ranked teams in the country upon facing the Razorbacks.

Arkansas will be hoping to replicate the magic it made last year when it opened its 2016 home schedule against second-ranked Duke and came away victors in front of 3,010 fans.

The Razorbacks won’t be looking too far ahead to Penn State as it opens the season on the road at perennial powers SMU and North Texas. The Mustangs reached the finals of the American Athletic Conference tournament championship last season and are a program on the rise. As for the Mean Green, UNT is a three-time Conference USA champion and finished with 15 wins last year, nine in conference play.

Following Penn State, Arkansas will complete a four-game home stand against Abilene Christian (Aug. 27), James Madison (Sept. 1), and Mississippi Valley State (Sept. 3), before hitting the road again to UConn (Sept. 7) and Providence (Sept. 10).

The Razorbacks open Southeastern Conference (SEC) play in the friendly confines of Razorback Field when it takes on Mississippi State on Sept. 15. Out of its 10-match SEC slate, the Razorbacks will face three NCAA Tournament teams in Texas A&M (Sept. 29), Auburn (Oct. 5), and South Carolina (Oct. 8). The match with the Gamecocks will be played in Fayetteville and four of the last five matches between both squads have either been tied or decided by one goal.

Once again, the SEC Soccer Tournament will be played in Orange Beach, Alabama at the Orange Beach Sportsplex. The top 10 teams in the conference will make the field and the top six will have a bye to the quarterfinals. The tournament is slated to start on Oct. 30 and run through Nov. 5.

Season tickets are now on sale for $25.  Single-game tickets can be purchased for $5 at the Razorback Field box office, which opens one hour before kickoff on game days. Current students can be admitted with their UA ID, and children 17 and under are admitted free.

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