Arkansas women’s soccer, ranked No. 13 nationally, will conclude its non-conference schedule on Friday, September 5, facing Creighton in Omaha. The match is scheduled for a 5 p.m. kickoff and will be available for streaming on ESPN+.
This meeting marks the first between Arkansas and Creighton since 1997. The Bluejays currently lead the all-time series 4-3-0, with Arkansas holding a 1-2-0 record in Omaha. The event coincides with Socctober Fest and a men’s soccer double-header hosted by Creighton.
Creighton enters the contest with a 1-4-0 record this season. Their lone win came against Kansas City, while they have suffered close losses to Oklahoma and No. 3 Duke. Key players for the Bluejays include Brynn Gardner, Ariana Mondiri, and Ella Luna—each scoring one goal so far this season—alongside Mallory Connealy and Tori Gillis contributing to their offensive efforts. Head coach Jimmy Walker is in his 18th season at Creighton with a career record of 185-106-28.
Arkansas faces one of the most challenging schedules in NCAA women’s soccer this year. According to Chris Henderson (@chris_awk), Arkansas has the third-hardest overall schedule and second-hardest non-conference slate behind Penn State. This season includes matches against several top-ranked teams; no other program began the year playing four ranked opponents within five games.
In preseason exhibitions against UT Martin and Oral Roberts, Arkansas outscored opponents by a combined total of 9-1, with newcomers responsible for six of those goals. Freshman Paige Szymanski led with three goals; BYU transfer Erin Bailey scored twice against Oral Roberts; freshman Vailana Tu’ua also found the net.
The Razorbacks entered competition ranked No. 6 in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll—the highest preseason ranking in program history—and were predicted by league coaches to win the SEC regular season championship. As of week three, Arkansas stands at No. 9 in TopDrawerSoccer’s poll and No. 8 in United Soccer Coaches’ rankings.
The team’s recruiting class was rated No. 19 nationally by TopDrawerSoccer—the first top-25 class signed under head coach Colby Hale since he joined Arkansas in 2012—with multiple recruits listed among IMG Academy’s National Top 200 prospects.
Arkansas also added transfers such as BYU midfielder Erin Bailey (16 career goals), Seminole State forward/midfielder Aniyah Nurse-Whyte (15 goals as a freshman), and veteran goalkeeper Evelyn Vitali from Utah via Oklahoma State.
Sophomore goalkeeper Keegan Smith set or tied several records last season including single-season shutouts (11) and was named to All-SEC honors as a freshman—a first for an Arkansas goalkeeper—while earning national recognition from TopDrawerSoccer.
At home, Arkansas remains unbeaten in all but three of its last forty-nine matches at Razorback Field dating back to August 2021 and holds an unbeaten streak over its last twenty-two SEC home contests.
For the third consecutive year, SEC coaches picked Arkansas as favorites to win the conference regular season title.
Despite losing two-thirds of its offense from last year—including leading scorers Kate Doyle, Ava Tankersley, and Anaiyah Robinson—Arkansas previously led NCAA Division I programs in goals (71), points (219), assists per game (3.67), points per game (10.43), corner kicks per game (8.67), shots on goal per game (11.52), and goal differential (+57).
