Florida Gators soccer suffers a loss to Arkansas

On a rainy night in Fayetteville, Arkansas, the fourth ranked Florida Gators (5-2) took on the Arkansas Razorbacks (8-1) in their second conference matchup of the season. Arkansas had never beaten Florida in 21 all-time games against the Gators, but they changed that Friday night with a 2-1 victory.
After an hour and 45-minute rain delay, Arkansas took momentum early in the game. The field conditions played right into the Razorbacks’ hands while the Gators struggled to find a pace.
Arkansas junior Jessi Hartzler was the offensive leader of the night. In the 23rd minute, she sent a long laser of a shot into the top right corner of the net giving Gators goal keeper Kaylan Marckese no chance of making a save and the Razorbacks a 1-0 lead. Just two minutes later, she scored again with a header off of a corner kick for what would be Arkansas final score of the night.
The Gators came out with a different attitude in the second half. They outshot Arkansas 20-13 with 15 of those shots coming in the second half. In the 50th minute, senior Meggie Dougherty Howard scored on a sliding kick off of Mayra Pelayo’s corner kick, putting Florida within one score of Arkansas.
Florida had several missed opportunities throughout the night, including eight offside penalties, mostly on a frustrated Savannah Jordan. One good half just would not get the job done against a tough SEC opponent like Arkansas.

Coming Up Next
The Gators are headed back to Gainesville to take on UCF this Sunday at 7 p.m.

Bailiegh Carlton
A lifelong sports fan, Bailiegh Carlton knew from a young age that she wanted to work in sports in some capacity. Before transferring to the University of Florida to study journalism, she played softball at Gulf Coast State College. She then interned for Gator Country for three years as she worked toward her degree. After graduation, Bailiegh decided to explore other opportunities in the world of sports, but all roads led her right back here. In her time away, she and her husband welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world. When she isn't working, she can almost always be found snuggled up with sweet baby Ridley, Cody and her four fur babies.