Arkansas women fall 2-1 to Mississippi State

Quick goal not enough for Razorbacks

Arkansas' Carly Hoke walks off the field as Mississippi State celebrates its 2-1 victory on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015, at Razorback Field in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE — The struggle continued for the Arkansas women’s soccer team as they jumped back into Southeastern Conference play with a tough 2-1 loss to Mississippi State on Sunday at Razorback Field.

Arkansas (4-5, 0-2 SEC) had plenty of chances to win, especially in the second half, but couldn’t convert a goal on several good opportunities after the break. MSU (3-5-1, 1-1) survived five shots on goal in the second half by Arkansas and only managed two of its own but Mallory Eubanks’ goal in the 86th minute was the difference.

“We didn’t play very well in the first half, but I felt like we out-played them for most of the second half,” Arkansas coach Colby Hale said. “We had chances to score four or five goals there in the second half but had a couple just tipped away or just took a bad bounce. It’s kind of been that way where we haven’t been very lucky. We just have to keep playing hard and hoping that will turn around.”

Arkansas jumped ahead just 11 seconds into the match as Katie Moore jumped a defender to make a steal and then beat the MSU goalkeeper 1-on-1 for a score to take a 1-0 lead.

MSU countered with a goal in the 21st minute of the first half to tie as Kiley Marens scored off a throw in assists by Ariana Holmes.

Arkansas controlled play for the most part in the second half. Alexandra Fischer had a shot blocked near the net and Moore had shots at 77th minute and at 82nd minute mark that were close misses.

MSU’s Eubanks made the winning play by getting behind the defense and running a perfect give-and-go with teammate Kennadi Carbin who had the assist.

“We had a defensive breakdown and didn’t get back and cover very well on that play,” Hale said. “(Eubanks) is their best player and if you give her an opportunity like that she’s going to make you pay for it.”

Arkansas will head to Georgia and Kentucky before returning home on Oct. 2nd against South Carolina.

The Lady Razorbacks had high hopes for this year after making the NCAA Tournament last year but have had a slew of injuries with as many as 8 or 9 players out that would have logged significant time.

“We’ve had a tough spell, we’re fighting through it,” Hale said. “We’ll go on the road this week and maybe it will be good for us to get a little change of pace.”