Soccer Fact Sheet #7

Opening Weekend Split: The Lady Razorbacks split their Southeastern Conference Opening Weekend with a loss to Mississippi on Friday night and a convincing win against Mississippi State on Sunday.
Heartbreaker on Friday: Arkansas’ Sunday afternoon win was important for many reasons but the most important was because of the way it lost on Friday. Up by a goal with five to play, the Lady’Backs seemed to have the game won but a save off the goal line kept it a one-goal match. Mississippi came back with two to play and scored the equalizer on a corner, then the game winner in overtime.
Ending the Home Stand: This weekend the Lady Razorbacks end their longest home stand of the year against Georgia and Tennessee. The matches mark the fifth and sixth consecutive games at home and lead into a four-match road swing. The Lady Razorbacks are 3-1-0 on their current home stand and 5-2-0 at home this fall.
Great SEC Openers: Freshman Kelly O’Connor had a great opening weekend in SEC play by scoring two goals and assisting on Arkansas’ game-winner against Mississippi State. Her two goals came off a 30-yard strike against Ole Miss to give the Lady’Backs an early edge and a five-footer on a rebound off the goalkeeper versus State. She created the first Mississippi State goal when she dribbled in deep and drew a crowd before passing to Lindsay Patterson at the top of the six.
Leading the Team: It has been a fun battle between freshman Kelly O’Connor and junior Lindsay Patterson to see who will score more goals this fall. So far, O’Connor has the edge. She scored her fifth against Ole Miss, and then nailed her sixth against Mississippi State. She also added an assist against State to give her six goals and three assists on the fall for 15 points.
Third in the SEC: While Kelly O’Connor leads the team in scoring, we should also point out that she is also amongst the leaders in the SEC. Currently her six goals and 15 points place her third amongst Southeastern Conference players. She is three behind Rachel Yepez of LSU for goals and four behind Yepez in points.
The Georgia Bulldogs: The Georgia Bulldogs are off to a fast start with a record of 9-1-0 overall. Georgia’s only loss came at Southern California, a 1-0 defeat, and since that time have won five straight with two shutouts including an SEC opening weekend sweep against #15 Florida and #12 South Carolina at home.
Triple Threat: Georgia doesn’t have one goal scorer, not even two, it has three. Carrie Patterson, Caroline Simpson and Marah Falle each have five goals this fall with Patterson and Simpson contributing three assists a piece for 13 points. In 10 games this fall, the Bulldogs have scored 20 goals with three-quarters coming from their triple threat.
Last Fall: The Lady Razorbacks picked up their first win ever in Athens, Ga., last fall when they upset the Georgia Bulldogs, 2-1. Lindsay Patterson had the game of her career that night with both Arkansas goals, the final one coming late to give the Lady’Backs a precarious edge.
Overall: While Arkansas may have beaten Georgia last fall, the Bulldogs have the edge in the career series with the Lady Razorbacks. Arkansas is just 2-5-2 against the Bulldogs all time, but over the past three years the teams have traded wins and losses. Arkansas is 1-0-1 in Athens since 2004 while Georgia is 1-0-0 in Fayetteville.
The SEC Standings: Arkansas picked a bad time to face Georgia and Tennessee, the co-leaders in the SEC Eastern Division standings. Both squads swept their conference openers against Florida and South Carolina and are riding unbeaten streaks of five and six games. Auburn leads the Western Division with a 2-0-0 SEC record with Arkansas holding the fifth position in the west at 1-1-0.
The Tennessee Lady Vols: The Tennessee Lady Vols are having another solid season with an overall record of 7-1-1. In the midst of a three-game winning streak, Tennessee has played and defeated four of five ranked opponents including last weekend’s sweep of #12 South Carolina and #15 Florida.
Great Record, Lack of Goals: Tennessee is strong defensively, probably because they have to be. In nine games this fall, the Lady Vols have only scored 14 goals but have conceded just six. Their three-goal output against South Carolina last weekend was an explosion for the Lady Vols as they hadn’t scored more than two all season.
The 2006 Meeting: It was not a pretty game for the Lady Razorbacks in 2006 at Knoxville, Tenn. Playing in the shadow of Tennessee’s new, half-constructed stadium, Arkansas fought valiantly, but was unable to defeat the Lady Vols on their home pitch, losing 3-0. Tennessee scored on a pair of long shots that surprised the Arkansas defense adding a third for good measure.
No Success: Arkansas has had no success over the years against the Tennessee Lady Vols. After opening the all-time series with a win in Knoxville, 1-0, Arkansas has dropped the next seven meetings and are 1-7-0 against Tennessee. Of course, the last time Tennessee came to Fayetteville, Arkansas had the Lady Vols on the ropes by taking a 1-1 game into overtime before Tennessee was able to end it with a 2-1 win.
Back on KXUA: The Lady Razorbacks return to KXUA, 88.3 FM, in Fayetteville for this weekend’s games. Remaining games for KXUA include Oct. 12 & 14 and the SEC Tournament in November.
Matching a Second: Having already secured the record for shutouts by an Arkansas freshman, Britni Williams matched a second record against Mississippi State by recording her eighth win. She tied the 20-year-old mark of Adrin Pedigo with the victory and has the potential to break all eight of Arkansas’ freshman goalkeeping records by the end of the season.
Still Among the Nation’s Best: Britni Williams continues to be ranked among the nation’s best goalkeepers in a pair of categories for the third-straight week. She holds the #14 spot in goals against average at .457 and is ranked 24th in save percentage at .886.
The SEC Leader: With half the season gone, Britni Williams still holds the lead in the Southeastern Conference for both shutouts and goals against average. She is credited with six of Arkansas’ eight shutouts and has a goals against average of 0.46.
Williams Named Freshman of the Week: Britni Williams was named the SEC’s Freshman of the Week based on her performances against Louisiana Tech and Centenary. Over the weekend she made six saves against 16 shots and did not allow a goal as she claimed her fourth shutout of the season.
Only the Second: Britni Williams is just the second Lady Razorback to earn a Freshman of the Week honor. Abbey Wilburn was the first back in October of 2005.
A Lady Razorback First: In what is quickly becoming a season of firsts for the Lady Razorbacks, Britni Williams made her mark on Lady Razorback history on Friday, August 31. In that contest she became the first Lady Razorback true freshman goalkeeper to post a shutout in her first collegiate match. That accomplishment encompasses 22 years of Lady Razorback soccer history.
Shutouts Galore: The Lady Razorbacks matched their single-season record for shutouts against Mississippi State when they booked their eighth of the season. Arkansas has recorded eight shutouts two times before, 1991 and 1996 and has nine games left to break the record.
Shutout Minutes: While the streak ended against Mississippi last Friday night, Arkansas set a school record for keeping its opponents off the scoreboard. Over a six-game span, the Lady Razorbacks racked up a streak of 506:53, shattering the old mark of 361:20 which was set over the course of two seasons, 1991 and 1992.
National Rankings: The Lady Razorbacks are ranked among the nation’s best in several categories this fall. Among those are goals against average, save percentage and shutout percentage. Arkansas’ highest rank is a tie for 10th in shutout percentage at 0.727. Close behind is its ranking for goals against average (11th, .437) and save percentage (22nd, .889).
Game-Winning Assist: Rachel Smith was credited with the game-winning assist in Arkansas’ victory over Mississippi State. Taking a free kick from just outside the 18, Smith’s shot hit the keeper in the hands and bounced off leading to the goal.
On the Scoreboard: Sophomore Rachel Smith made personal history last Sunday afternoon against Memphis when she scored the first goal of her collegiate career. Striking a 22-yard shot through the hands of the Memphis goalkeeper and into the side netting, Smith had played more than 1,700 minutes over two seasons before the score.
A Third Game Winner: Lindsay Patterson scored her third game-winning goal of the season against Mississippi State, a team leader. She is approaching Arkansas’ junior record for game winners in a season (4) as well as the overall mark (5).
Tied for Fifth: Adding Lindsay Patterson’s two game-winning strikes from last year to her three this season give the junior five for her career and place her tied for fifth on Arkansas’ all-time list. She is seven behind the all-time leader Julie Williford (12) and her next step is seven by recently departed Christina Burger.
Tied Atop the SEC: Lindsay Patterson’s three game winners this season place her in a tie atop the Southeastern Conference rankings with Danila Monteiro of South Carolina.
10 Career Tallies: Lindsay Patterson is quickly becoming a strong offensive weapon for the Lady Razorbacks and her 10 career goals make the case. She had none as a freshman, and then scored five last season. Combining her five from this year and Patterson has an outside chance to crack into Arkansas’ all-time top 10 list for goals this season, but should be well entrenched by the end of her senior year.
Perfect: Senior Allison Harris may not be the perfect player on the soccer field, but she certainly has those capabilities in the classroom. Harris is your ideal student-athlete. She has started all 59 games of her career over four years and maintains a perfect 4.0 grade point average in psychology.
A Soccer First: To the best of anyone at the University’s knowledge, Allison Harris is the first Lady Razorback soccer player to maintain a perfect 4.0 grade point average for eight semesters. That number could become nine after this fall.
Academic Honors: Last fall Allison Harris became just the second Lady Razorback soccer player to be named ESPN The Magazine Academic all-American when she was voted to the third team. A three-time first-team all-district award winner, Harris has also been named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll three times and the UA Academic Champions list eight times.
Getting Ahead: The Lady Razorbacks have done a fantastic job of getting ahead of their opponents this fall. In 11 matches, Arkansas has scored the first goal 10 times. The result is an 8-3-0 record and constant pressure on the opposition to play from behind.
A Lady Razorback Record: It took just 20 seconds for the Lady Razorbacks to get on the scoreboard against Oral Roberts and the quick tally was an Arkansas record for a first goal. Junior Abbey Wilburn nailed a shot from just outside the penalty area that skimmed off the underside of the crossbar and into the goal to give Arkansas a lead and set the record. Prior to WIlburn’s score, the fastest Lady Razorback goal had been 1:00 set by Jessica Fraser back in 1997 against Mississippi State.