Robinson leads No. 6 Arkansas past Tennessee

FAYETTEVILLE –  The sixth-ranked Razorbacks (10-1-1, 5-1-0 SEC) returned to the win column Thursday night after shutting out Tennessee, 5-0.

Freshman forward Anaiyah Robinson became the team’s new goals leader (9) after dealing an early blow to the Vols (7-2-3, 2-1-2 SEC) with back-to-back goals in the 11th minute.

Robinson’s first goal was an easy left-footed tap-in thanks to assists from transfers Kate Doyle and Kelsey Oyler. 19 seconds later, Robinson doubled the lead after curling in an absolutely beautiful ball from outside the 18-yard box near the corner.

Robinson also leads the SEC in goals and sits atop the leaderboard with South Carolina’s Catherine Barry and Alabama’s Gianna Paul.

Arkansas’ freshmen continued to dominate as midfielder Jailyn Brownlee added her third goal of league play in the 20th minute. Defender Avery Wren took a free kick near midfield that Tennessee’s keeper mishandled, allowing Brownlee to send it in for the Hogs’ third goal of the match.

Senior midfielder Ella Rogers closed out the half with her first goal of the season after she redirected a ball in from sophomore Kennedy Ball. Rogers became the 18th Razorback to net a goal this season, which leads the NCAA.

That number increased to 19 in the second half when Ainsley Erzen scored her first goal of the season and Arkansas’ fifth of the game. Sophomore Sabrina Jones set up Erzen with a ball over the top of Tennessee’s defensive third that Erzen slipped to the far post.

Notes

• Freshman goalkeeper Keegan Smith made six saves in her fifth shutout of the season.
• The Hogs outshot Tennessee, 20-11, and Brownlee led the way with four.
• Arkansas is up to 15 points in the SEC standings and is tied with Mississippi State for first place.
• The crowd of 2,858 is the seventh-largest in Razorback Field’s history. It’s also the third top-1o crowd this season.
• The Hogs picked up their 10th win of the season and have won at least 10 matches in each of the last nine seasons.

Up Next

The Razorbacks will head to Oklahoma (8-5-1, 1-4-1 SEC) on Sunday for its first SEC match against the Sooners. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. and the match will be streamed live on SEC Network Plus. OU is coming off a 1-0 loss at Texas.

For more information on Arkansas soccer, follow @RazorbackSoccer on social media.