Soccer Preview: #13 Arkansas at Creighton

OMAHA, Neb. – No. 13 Arkansas soccer will close out non-conference play on Friday, September 5, at Creighton (1-4-0).

Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. and the match will be streamed on ESPN+ with Conner Happer (play-by-play) and Avarie Howard (analyst) on the call.

OMAHOGS

Arkansas will close out the non-conference slate at Creighton on Friday, Sept. 5. The Bluejays are hosting a double-header with the men’s soccer team and Socctober Fest. The Hogs and Creighton haven’t met since 1997 and the Bluejays lead the series 4-3-0. Arkansas is 1-2-0 in Omaha.

ON THE BLUEJAYS

Facing a grueling non-conference schedule, Creighton enters Friday’s Socctoberfest contest against No. 13 Arkansas with a 1-4-0 record, including a 2-1 win at Kansas City and close losses on the road at Oklahoma (Aug. 14) and No. 3 Duke (Aug. 31). Brynn Gardner, Ariana Mondiri and Ella Luna lead the way offensively with one goal apiece, while Mallory Connealy and Tori Gillis have been focal pieces in the Bluejays frontline attack early on this season. Creighton was picked to finish fifth in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches’ poll as Jimmy Walker is in his 18th season with a 185-106-28 career record.

TOUGH SCHEDULE

According to NCAA women’s soccer guru Chris Henderson (@chris_awk), Arkansas will play the third-hardest overall schedule and the second-hardest non-conference schedule, behind Penn State. As of this week’s poll, Arkansas played/will play 5 of the top 11 teams, 6 of the top 15, 7 of the top 20 and 8 of the top 25. No other team in the country started the season with four ranked opponents in five matches. Clemson, Duke and BYU have played three top 25 teams through the first three weeks of the season.

KEEPING IT FRIENDLY

The Razorbacks played two preseason exhibitions before the first week of games, against UT Martin and Oral Roberts. Arkansas outscored both teams 9-1. Newcomers carried the Razorbacks in both matches, accounting for 6 of the Hogs’ 9 goals. Freshman Paige Szymanski led the way with three goals. BYU transfer Erin Bailey recorded a brace against ORU. Freshman Vailana Tu’ua scored the opener against ORU.

HIGH ON THE HOGS

Arkansas will enter the first week of matches ranked No. 6 in the United Soccer Coaches preseason top 25, its highest preseason ranking in program history. The Hogs received the No. 7 ranking in TopDrawerSoccer’s preseason top 25 and were predicted to win the SEC regular season championship by the league’s head coaches. The Razorbacks enter week three as the No. 9 team in TopDrawerSoccer’s poll and the No. 8 team in the United Soccer Coaches poll. Arkansas has been ranked in every United Soccer Coaches poll since September 13, 2022, 155 weeks ago. Last season, the Hogs received their first No. 1 ranking in program history and the first for an SEC team since 1998.

SOLID SIGNEES

Arkansas’ 2025 recruiting class finished at No. 19 in TopDrawerSoccer’s team recruiting class rankings. This marks the first time Colby Hale has signed a top 25 class since his tenure began at Arkansas in 2012. Muiltiple players ranked in the IMG Academy National Top 200: #65 Nuria Craig (#11 in Texas, #18 Defender), #86 Vailana Tu’ua (#16 in SoCal, #26 Forward), #155 Camila Palacios (#18 in Texas, #52 Forward) and #173 Natalie Wagner (#20 in Texas, #59 Forward). Craig and Tu’ua received 4-star rankings from TopDrawerSoccer.

IMPACT TRANSFERS

Hale brought in a solid transfer class as well, with BYU midfielder Erin Bailey, Seminole State forward/midfielder Aniyah Nurse-Whyte and veteran Utah goalkeeper Evelyn Vitali joining Arkansas for the 2025 season. In three seasons out west, Erin Bailey racked up 36 points on 16 goals and two assists. In 2023, she scored 10 goals in 26 appearances for her BYU team that ended its historic season in the College Cup. The Cougars led the NCAA with 79 goals and 238 points. At Seminole, Aniyah Nurse-Whyte made an immediate impact for the storied JUCO program in her freshman year. She led the team with 15 goals and ranked third in assists with 12. One of her goals sent her team to the JUCO national tournament for the sixth straight year. Nurse-Whyte received NJCAA Division I All-America Third Team, United Soccer Coaches Junior College Division I All-America Team and the Region II All-Region First Team honors. Evelyn Vitali is entering her fifth year of college soccer. Originally at Oklahoma State before heading to Utah, Vitali received numerous honors during her freshman year with the Cowgirls, including a spot on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team and TopDrawerSoccer’s Top 100 Freshmen list. Vitali recorded seven shutouts and started in all 18 matches that season. Vitali played a scoreless 135 minutes in goal during both of Arkansas’ preseason exhibitions.

KEEPER KEEGAN

Arkansas sophomore goalkeeper Keegan Smith has quickly cemented herself as one of the program’s best after just one season between the pipes. In her debut season in 2024, Smith tied former Razorback Grace Barbara (2022) for the single-season shutout record (11) and finished with the second-lowest goals-against average (.62) behind former Hog and current Racing Louisville FC keeper Katie Lund (.48, 2019). The Bath, New York native shut out seven of Arkansas’ 10 SEC regular season opponents and two of three NCAA Tournament opponents (Oklahoma State and Cal) to lead the Razorbacks back to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2022. She allowed just six goals at Razorback Field to help the Hogs to an unbeaten home record of 11-0-2. Keegan was the first freshman goalkeeper in program history to receive All-SEC honors. She finished the season ranked as the No. 3 freshman in the nation and was placed on the Best XI Freshman Team by TopDrawerSoccer. During the offseason, Smith was called up to the U-19 U.S. Women’s National Team training camp in Spain in February of 2025. She was called up a second time in June of 2025, this time for the U-18/19 U.S. YNT combined training camp in Fayetteville, Georgia. Smith picked up her first shutout of 2025 in the 2-0 win over Georgia Southern on August 24.

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE

Arkansas is unbeaten in 46 of its last 49 matches at Razorback Field, dating back to 2021. The Hogs have gone 41-3-5 at Razorback Field since beating No. 25 BYU on Aug. 30, 2021. Arkansas is also unbeaten in its last 22 SEC home matches, dating back to 2020. The three losses came on November 17, 2023 against Pittsburgh in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, on Aug. 14, 2025 against No. 13 Iowa and on Aug. 28 against No. 3 Duke. The Razorbacks have outscored opponents 177-37 at Razorback Field during this stretch.

PRESEASON FAVES

For the third straight season, Arkansas was picked to win the SEC regular season championship by the league’s head coaches. 1. Arkansas 9. Auburn 2. Texas 10. Kentucky 3. South Carolina 11. LSU 3. Georgia 12. Texas A&M 5. Tennessee 13. Oklahoma 6. Vanderbilt 13. Florida 7. Alabama 15. Missouri 8. Mississippi State 16. Ole Miss

MOVING ON

Arkansas lost 66% (47 of 71 goals) of its NCAA-leading offense last season, including top scorers Kate Doyle (13g, 6a), Ava Tankersley (12g, 9a) and Anaiyah Robinson (11g, 1a). The Razorbacks led the NCAA in goals (71), points (219) and ranked second in assists (77). They also led the nation in scoring offense (3.38), assists per game (3.67), points per game (10.43), corner kicks per game (8.67), SOG per game (11.52) and goal differential (57).

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