No. 7 Arkansas is set to face No. 10 South Carolina in a top-10 women’s soccer matchup Thursday night in Columbia, South Carolina. The game will begin at 6:00 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPNU with Jenn Hildreth and Lori Lindsey providing commentary.
Arkansas enters the week with a record of 6-2-2 overall and 4-0-0 in SEC play. The team is scheduled for two high-profile matches, first against South Carolina and then against No. 13 Mississippi State on Sunday at Razorback Field. This marks Arkansas’ sixth and seventh games this season against ranked opponents; so far, the Razorbacks are 2-2-1 in such matchups.
Historically, South Carolina leads the all-time series with a record of 16-7-3, but Arkansas has won the last three meetings since the 2020 SEC Tournament. Last year’s contest saw Arkansas win 2-0 before a crowd of 4,000 at Razorback Field.
South Carolina comes into the match after a recent road victory over Oklahoma, where both goals were scored from corner kicks in the second half. The Gamecocks have recorded nine shutouts this season, with senior goalkeeper Tina Tsaousis achieving six clean sheets. Katie Shea Collins leads NCAA Division I in game-winning goals with five and ranks third in the SEC for shots on goal per game.
Since 2020, Arkansas has been dominant within the conference, winning three SEC regular season titles and compiling 42 wins out of 52 opportunities. The team has outscored its conference opponents by an aggregate of 83 goals during that span and appeared in three SEC Tournament finals. With 118 goals since 2020, Arkansas leads all SEC teams; Alabama follows with 85 goals against conference opponents. Since October 16, 2020—when they last lost an SEC home game to South Carolina—the Razorbacks have maintained a home record of 21-0-3 in conference play.
Most recently, Arkansas extended its unbeaten streak to six matches following a win over Ole Miss last Friday (4-1). Junior Bella Field scored twice after returning from injury, while Ainsley Erzen and Makenzie Malham each netted their first goals of the season. Vailana Tu’ua assisted on one goal and has contributed points in every SEC match so far this year.
According to Chris Henderson (@chris_awk), Arkansas faces one of the toughest schedules nationally—third-hardest overall and second-hardest non-conference schedule behind Penn State. The team has played or will play five of the top fifteen teams this season; no other program began their campaign facing four ranked opponents within their first five games.
The Razorbacks prepared for the season with preseason exhibitions against UT Martin and Oral Roberts, winning both by an aggregate score of 9-1 thanks largely to contributions from newcomers such as freshman Paige Szymanski (three goals) and BYU transfer Erin Bailey (two goals).
Arkansas started the season ranked No. 6 by United Soccer Coaches—the highest preseason ranking in program history—and was predicted by league coaches to win another SEC regular season title.
This year’s recruiting class was ranked No.19 nationally by TopDrawerSoccer—the first time under head coach Colby Hale that his incoming group placed inside the top twenty-five—with several players earning national recognition including Nuria Craig (#65), Vailana Tu’ua (#86), Camila Palacios (#155), and Natalie Wagner (#173).
Key transfers include midfielder Erin Bailey from BYU (who scored ten goals last year), forward/midfielder Aniyah Nurse-Whyte from Seminole State (15 goals as a freshman), and veteran goalkeeper Evelyn Vitali from Utah.
Sophomore goalkeeper Keegan Smith matched program records for shutouts as a freshman last year (11) while also being called up twice to U.S. youth national team training camps during the offseason.
Freshman forward Vailana Tu’ua became notable for scoring two quick goals at Florida earlier this month—her first collegiate brace—and later added her third career goal versus Texas A&M.
At home, Arkansas has remained strong—unbeaten in forty-eight out of fifty-one matches at Razorback Field since August 2021—and continues its run without an SEC home loss since late October that same year.
For three consecutive seasons, league coaches have picked Arkansas as favorites to win the regular-season championship.
Despite losing key offensive contributors who accounted for most of last year’s NCAA-leading offense—including Kate Doyle, Ava Tankersley, and Anaiyah Robinson—the Razorbacks continue to rank among national leaders across multiple statistical categories.
