Wild Finish Lifts No. 11 Hogs Past Grand Canyon
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – No. 11 Arkansas (5-2-1) wrapped up non-conference play with a wild 3-2 victory over Grand Canyon (6-3-1) on Sunday.
Two Hogs, forwards Bella Field and Zoe Shepherd, scored their first collegiate goals in front of 2,635 fans at Razorback Field, the third-largest crowd in program history.
First Half
Grand Canyon opened the scoring in the 11th minute with a goal against the run of play netted by the ‘Lopes leading scorer Gianna Gourley.
Arkansas tied the match and took the lead with two goals in the final two minutes of the half. Forward Anna Podojil netted the first goal off a free kick from Emilee Hauser. It was the 47th in her career, which ranks second among active DI players.
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Shepherd scored the go-ahead goal with 15 seconds on the clock thanks to a cross from Podojil that was mishandled by ’Lopes goalkeeper Deaira Jackson.
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The Hogs finished the first half with 16 shots to Grand Canyon’s four.
Second Half
The second half featured 44 scoreless minutes before GCU’s Bekah Valdez tied the match up with 53 seconds to play, but Arkansas only needed 27 seconds to retake the lead.
Midfielder Makenzie Malham sent a ball in, then linked with forward Kiley Dulaney and midfielder Bea Franklin before finding the right foot of Field. Field fired near post and through the hands of Jackson and gave the Hogs their fifth win of the season.
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Podojil tied her career high of six shots to lead the Hogs’ total of 25 for the match.
Hear it From Coach Colby Hale
“We knew this would be a tough stretch,” Hale said. “GCU is a good team. We played Friday for the SEC opener and with travel and one day in between we knew we’d have to grind through this one. We could’ve scored a few goals early that might have changed the match. We won and that’s what matters. We will celebrate this one as winning is hard.”
Next Up
The Razorbacks will host No. 7 Alabama (6-0-4, 0-0-1 SEC) for the SEC home opener on Thursday, Sept. 21. First kick is set for 6 p.m. and the match will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.
For more information on Arkansas Soccer, follow @RazorbackSoccer on Twitter.
