FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas won the SEC West soccer championship and remained in the hunt for the overall league title Friday.
The No. 7 Razorbacks defeated No. 15 Auburn 2-1 at Razorback Field to clinch the division for the second consecutive season and third time in program history. Arkansas (6-1) is tied with South Carolina atop the SEC overall standings with one regular-season game remaining.
Arkansas is looking to win a conference championship for the second consecutive season.
"They want an SEC championship," Arkansas coach Colby Hale said. "They want that bad."
Anna Podojil scored on an assist from Parker Goins in the 13th minute, and Goins scored on an assist from Podojil and Taylor Malham in the 19th minute to give the Razorbacks a 2-0 halftime lead.
"The runs were fantastic; great balls in, finishes," Hale said. "We should have scored a few more. We missed a couple there at the start of the second half that would have put the game away, but the team just keeps driving.
"Not all the calls went our way, we didn’t finish everything and we still found a way to win. That’s going to be the legacy of this team is just grinding out results."
Podojil's goal was her SEC-leading fourth of the season. She also overtook the SEC's points lead with 12.
Goins scored her third goal of the season and 24th goal of her career, which tied her for eighth on the program's all-time goals scored list. Goins also moved into fifth in program history with her 21st career assist.
Malham is tied for third with 23 career assists. She has three assists this season.
Alyssa Malonson scored Auburn's only goal in the 76th minute. The Tigers (2-1-2) did not get another shot the rest of the game.
Arkansas' Taylor Beitz finished with five saves. Auburn's Maddie Prohaska had nine saves, but allowed a career-high two goals. Prohaska entered the game with the SEC's best save percentage.
The Razorbacks defeated an SEC West opponent for the 12th consecutive game and extended their unbeaten streak to 16 games against division opponents.
Arkansas is scheduled to conclude the regular season with a game at Mississippi State next Friday. With the division championship, the Razorbacks are guaranteed one of the top two seeds at the SEC Tournament that is scheduled to begin Nov. 13 in Orange Beach, Ala.
"All of it means a lot," Hale said. "Trophies are great and hard work is good. We want to win the SEC as well, which we have to win on Friday to do that. I think we’ll be good and motivated."