With Sunday’s game tied, 3-3, Kathleen Paulsen knocked a bicycle kick from eight yards out past the Oral Roberts goalkeeper to give Arkansas (2-1 ) the lead once and for all. The junior midfielder’s heroics came in the 81 st minute of the game at Razorback Field and ended a see-saw second half that included two ties and two lead changes.

Paulsen was positioned inside the 18-yard box underneath a ball that had been popped up. She settled the ball with her back to the goal and went up to knock the ball over the outstretched arms of ORU keeper Amanda Wheeler.

“ I just saw it up in the air and I was thinking this is the perfect opportunity, ” Paulsen said. “ So I just decided to step out there and try it. I almost tried one last Friday, but I would have kicked the girl in the face so I decided not to, but this time I went for it. ”

The game-winning score was the final goal of a back-and-forth affair that saw Arkansas dominate possession and Oral Roberts capitalize on its few opportunities. The Razorbacks outshot their opponents, 19-5, but Oral Roberts was more efficient, scoring on three of those five shots.

ADVERTISEMENT

“ Credit our opponents for three fantastic strikes, ” head coach Gordon Henderson said. “ Then you have a look at the four goals we scored and there wasn’t a scrappy, bad goal in the bunch. So to win the game with a bicycle kick, it’s just fantastic stuff. I can’t (remember Arkansas’ last bicycle ) and I can’t remember the last time I was involved in a 4-3 game, either. ”

Arkansas opened the scoring with an 18-yard strike from Kim Schleif that found its way to the back post and into the net at the 7: 44 mark. She was set up for the goal by Kelly O’Connor; Schleif would return the favor in the second half on a goal by O’Connor that gave UA a 3-2 lead.

With the win, Arkansas splits its homeopening weekend and goes into a four-game road stretch. Next weekend, the Razorbacks will travel to Jacksonville, Ala., to participate in the Jacksonville State Tournament.