Soccer hosts 2005 NCAA tournament team Liberty

FAYETTEVILLE – The University of Arkansas Lady Razorback soccer team is fresh off its home opening 4-0 win on Friday night, but have no time to rest as they welcome the Liberty University Lady Flames to Lady’Back Field on Sunday afternoon for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff.

Arkansas traveled to Lynchburg, Va., in 2005 and lost to Liberty 2-1 in a match that the Lady Razorbacks seemed to control at moments. In fact, Arkansas out shot its opponent 21-7 during the contest including a 15-4 margin in the second half, but two of the Lady Flames four shots would go into the net for the final outcome. Liberty used the momentum of its win against Arkansas and ran straight to the NCAA Tournament where they would lose in the first round to the number two seed in their half of the bracket, Virginia, 4-0.

“Liberty is a very good side,” Arkansas head coach Gordon Henderson said. “They are an NCAA Tournament team and come in with a lot of confidence. They just defeated John Brown on Friday night and last Sunday afternoon they lost to #7 Virginia, 1-0. This is going to be our toughest challenge of the young season and I am confident that our players will rise to the challenge.”

The Lady Razorbacks enter Sunday afternoon’s contest with a 2-1-0 record and after losing their first match 3-2 in double overtime, have rattled off two straight wins and have allowed just one goal over the last 180 minutes of play. Arkansas’ strong defense is anchored by senior goalkeeper Carrie Dillsaver with fellow senior Devon Burger and junior Allison Harris providing leadership amongst the field players.

For the Lady Razorbacks to avenge their 2005 loss and remain undefeated on their home pitch they will have to limit the opportunities that Liberty can create and make things happen on the offensive end. While the Lady Razorbacks dominated the statistics in their 2005 match up with the Lady Flames, Arkansas lacked the quality that it needed to score goals. That problem could have been corrected with the Lady Razorbacks 2006 freshman class who has dominated the Arkansas scoring in the first three matches. Arkansas currently leads the Southeastern Conference in goals scored with 10 over three games and the Lady Razorback freshmen have accounted for six of those scores.

For more information about Lady Razorback soccer or about Arkansas women’s athletics, visit LADYBACKS.COM.