Auburn soccer came into Thursday night's game with three straight losses, hoping to erase that streak against No. 6 Arkansas.
The Razorbacks shut down any hope of Auburn getting back in the win column as the Tigers fell 5-0 at the Auburn Soccer Complex on Thursday evening.
In the first 20 minutes of the game, both defenses were on top of their game, each allowing two shots on goal. Arkansas opened up the scoring in the 25th minute, when Anna Podogil kicked one past Auburn goalie Kate Hart. Auburn was kept to three shots on goal in the first half, and entered halftime trailing 1-0.
Arkansas pulled away and scored four goals in the second half. Arkansas opened up the first 10 minutes of the second half with two goals within that span. The first goal for the Razorbacks, courtesy of sophomore Taylor Malham, was within the first two minutes of the half.
The second was added in the ninth minute by Stephani Doyle. This put the Razorbacks up 3-0. Arkansas later added two more goals in the half, one by Bryana Hunter and one by Nayeli Perez.
“We just weren’t good enough, especially in the second half. I thought the first half was pretty even, but the second half we didn’t execute out game plan," Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa said following the loss. “We’re gonna take a lot from this game, and we got to be better on Sunday."
Sunday is when Auburn travels to Tuscaloosa to face rival Alabama, before returning home to face South Carolina on Halloween to close out the regular season. Right now, Auburn is turning the page and focusing only on Alabama.
“At this point now, these last four games don’t matter, all that matters is Sunday,” Hoppa said.
The loss to Arkansas moves the Tigers to 6-8-2 overall and 3-5 in conference play, ranking fifth in the SEC West.
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