FAYETTEVILLE — Stefani Doyle and Tori Cannata arrived on the University of Arkansas campus in the summer of 2016 to play soccer for a program that was on the rise but still looking for its big breakthrough.
Both were top recruits - Doyle from Lewisville, Texas, and Cannata from Land O’ Lakes, Fla. - who were sold on Colby Hale’s vision early in his tenure as the Razorbacks’ head coach.
“He wasn’t going to favor anybody and he was going to push everybody equally, and I liked that,” Cannata said. “I liked the competitiveness.”
On Sunday, Doyle and Cannata will play their final regular-season home game for an Arkansas team ranked No. 6 nationally - its highest ranking ever - and that enters its 1 p.m. game against Georgia alone atop the Southeastern Conference standings.
No. 6 Arkansas vs. Georgia
WHEN Sunday, 1 p.m.
WHERE Razorback Field, Fayetteville
RECORDS Arkansas 13-2-1, 7-1-0 SEC; Georgia 7-6-3, 3-3-2 SEC
TV SEC Network-Plus
NOTEWORTHY Arkansas freshman Anna Podojil leads the SEC with 12 goals and 30 points this season. Podojil has scored a goal in five of eight SEC games, including the past four, and recorded an assist in two of the three SEC games in which she did not score a goal…. Arkansas ranks in the top three nationally in goals (50), assists (56) and save percentage (.902). The Razorbacks lead the SEC in all three categories…. Arkansas has scored at least three goals in each of its past five games and has outscored its opponents by a combined 21-2 during its five-game win streak…. Georgia is 0-3 this season against ranked opponents, with losses to South Carolina, Clemson and Virginia Tech by a combined score of 7-1. The Bulldogs are unbeaten in their past three games against Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Kentucky.
Along with three other seniors who have transferred into the program, Doyle and Cannata will be recognized for their contributions at Arkansas, which has had multiple high-water marks during their four-year careers. Among them:
• Three consecutive trips, and a fourth upcoming, to the NCAA Tournament. The Razorbacks hosted an NCAA postseason game for the first time in 2016 and again last season, and are a near lock to host at least one game next month.
• Three consecutive runner-up finishes at the SEC Tournament.
• A 32-7-1 record at home, including 17-1-1 over the past two seasons.
• A 5-4-1 record vs. top 10 teams. Arkansas defeated a top 10 for the first time in 2016 and recorded its first victory over a team ranked No. 1 (North Carolina) earlier this year.
“That’s going to be the first class to go to four NCAA Tournaments,” said Hale, who coached the Razorbacks to their first NCAA Tournament in 2013. “When you think that in 20-something years no one went, and then they went to four straight, I mean that’s the difference. That needs to be our new norm, that our down years are still in the NCAA Tournament.”
This has been a memorable season for Arkansas (13-2-1, 7-1-0 SEC), which has already clinched the SEC West championship - its first in 23 years. The Razorbacks could clinch a share of their first overall league title with a victory over Georgia, coupled with a loss or tie by No. 8 South Carolina at No. 20 Florida.
Arkansas would be guaranteed the outright title with victories over Georgia and at Tennessee in the regular-season finale on Oct. 31.
“We have all these rankings and we’re doing well, but we’ve been training the same way, as if we were freshmen and not even ranked,” Cannata said.
“We’re trying to improve our play…and showing we can do anything anyone else can do.”
Doyle (22 career goals, 21 career assists) and Cannata (15 goals, 10 assists) have been key to the program’s rise. Both were All-SEC players last season and stand a chance to earn all-conference honors again this year.
“You can’t replace what they’ve brought, and the other three (seniors) it’s the same,” Hale said. “They’ve been through something. They have perspective, they have insight, they’re mature women. They are fantastic leaders.”
The three other seniors who will be recognized Sunday are goalkeeper Katie Lund and defenders Marissa Kinsey and Madison Louk, who transferred from TCU, Baylor and Miami, respectively. Lund has been in goal every game this season and has a school-record 11 shutouts. Kinsey, a starter, has seven assists and Louk, a reserve, has scored one goal.
“It’s just a mature team,” Hale said.
Arkansas has won five consecutive games and 12 of its last 13. The Razorbacks have outscored their opponents 50-5 this season, and 23-3 in conference play.
“The environment has changed with better players coming in,” said Doyle, who will start her program-record 86th game Sunday. “The competitive level has increased.
“The ranking, it’s a huge accomplishment and it’s great for the program because it has never been done before, but we don’t let that affect how we go into games or how we go into practices. We still have to prove ourselves, that we are (a top) program.”