Soccer ready for home opener

FAYETTEVILLE – The University of Arkansas Lady Razorback soccer team is prepared for its 2004 home opener when it takes on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane at Lady’Back Field in Fayetteville on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.

Coming off a disappointing loss to Southeast Missouri State University on Friday night, the Lady Razorbacks hope that home field provides the spark they need to even their record at 1-1-0. Traditionally, Arkansas has been very good at Lady’Back Field and over the course of 12 years played on the pitch, have had just one losing season in Fayetteville.

“This should be an interesting game for both teams,” Arkansas head coach Gordon Henderson said. “I am sure that both teams would prefer not to start the season 0-2. Historically, Tulsa has been a tough opponent for us. As a coach, I am interested to see how our young team responds to a disappointing loss. The key is that the team is genuinely disappointed about the loss and that is a great place to build from.”

Tulsa enters the Sunday afternoon contest 0-1-0 after a loss to the University of Arkansas-Little Rock in Tulsa on Friday. Dominating the contest, the Golden Hurricane took 21 shots compared to just four by UALR, but Tulsa failed to find the back of the net despite a plethora of opportunities.

The Golden Hurricane have dominated the series with the Lady Razorbacks over the past several years, but the 2004 Arkansas squad hopes to change the momentum both on their season and in the series with a strong performance. Close matches nearly every contest, the past four games were decided by one goal and 13 of the 22 career contests resulted in either a tie or a one-goal win.

The past two meetings between Arkansas and Tulsa have ended 2-1 in favor of the Golden Hurricane, with the 2002 game played in Fayetteville and 2003 in Tulsa. Last season the two squads scored all three goals over a six-minute span in the second half with Tulsa senior Danielle Fauteaux netting both Golden Hurricane scores. Then freshman Devon Burger scored Arkansas’ lone tally on a rifle from outside the penalty area.

For more information about Lady Razorback soccer or about Arkansas women’s athletics, please go to www.ladybacks.com.