NC State ends Arkansas' soccer season in 2nd round of NCAA Tournament

A soccer ball sits on the field prior to a game between Arkansas and Georgia on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2019, in Fayetteville.

Arkansas' soccer season came to an end Thursday with a 2-1 loss to North Carolina State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Provo, Utah.

The Wolfpack scored twice in the game’s first 48 minutes, then withstood a late rally by the Razorbacks to advance to a third-round game against either BYU or Louisville.

Arkansas senior Tori Cannata scored with 2:33 remaining to give the Razorbacks their only goal. Anna Podojil had a clean look at an equalizer in the closing seconds, but her attempt went just above the crossbar as time expired.

“It just wasn’t our day,” Arkansas coach Colby Hale said. “We just weren’t us totally today.”

North Carolina State (12-6-4) went ahead on Kia Rankin’s redirect goal off a corner kick in the 18th minute and led 1-0 at halftime. The Wolfpack added another goal in the 48th minute on a solid strike from Lulu Guttenberger from inside the 18-yard box.

It was the first time this season that Arkansas gave up two goals in a game. NC State out-shot Arkansas 13-11 overall and 7-5 on goal.

“We played well and should’ve had three or four before they scored,” Wolfpack coach Tim Santoro said. “It wasn’t a 2-1 game, but we’ll take moving on to the Sweet Sixteen.”

The Razorbacks (17-4-2) were eliminated in the second round of the tournament for the third time in four seasons, and were eliminated by an ACC team for the fifth time since 2014.

Arkansas, which won its first SEC regular-season championship and was seeded in the national tournament for the first time, finished one victory shy of tying the single-season school record for wins that was set in 2016.

“We tried to find a balance at the end of it’s been a great season and obviously we’ve accomplished some big things,” Hale said. “It’s kind of a cliche, right? Only one team is happy the last game and everyone else ends on a loss. But we made a lot of progress this year.”