FAYETTEVILLE — The 10th-ranked Arkansas soccer team started slow but scored three goals in the second half to defeat Florida 3-0 Thursday night in front of 2,478 at Razorback Field.
The Razorbacks (10-3-1, 6-1 SEC) extended their home unbeaten streak to 29 matches. They have not lost on their home field since Oct. 16, 2020.
Arkansas junior forward Sophia Aragaon broke a scoreless game in the 47th minute when she weaved around five Gators outside the goal area and shot with her right foot into the net. It was a quick response by the Razorbacks to a scoreless first half.
“We played pretty good in the first half, but we didn’t execute anything,” Arkansas senior Ava Tankersley said postgame on SEC Network. “I think all of us were just really hungry and just ready to score. We came out ready.”
Aragon’s shot was the onset of a tale of two halves. Arkansas out-shot the Gators 5-4 before halftime and 10-2 afterward.
Freshman forward Sabrina Jones scored her first goal in the 67th minute when she headed a ball off a deflection by Gators goalkeeper Alexa Goldberg into the top right of the goal. Tankersley scored off her left foot into the top center of the goal seven minutes later on an assist by Avery Wren and Bea Franklin.
Tankersley has scored a goal in each of Arkansas’ past four games and is responsible for 57% of the team’s scoring during that span. She said the Razorbacks were upset with their performance during a 2-1 loss Sunday at Auburn.
It was Arkansas’ first conference loss and snapped a six-game win streak.
“Obviously if you know how we play, Auburn was not up to our expectations at all,” Tankersley said. “We regrouped. We have standards and we didn’t meet them, so we wanted to make sure that we met this game, and I thought we did that.”
Phoebe Carver and Sierra Cota-Yarde split halves at goalkeeper for the Razorbacks. Carver started and had two saves. Cota-Yarde recorded one save in the second half.
Arkansas secured its eighth consecutive season with at least 10 wins. The Razorbacks have three regular-season games remaining before the SEC Tournament in Pensacola, Fla.
“The goal is what everyone else’s is, to win,” Tankersley said, “to go all the way [and] win a championship. We haven’t done that yet…. That’s one of our main goals.”