FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 6 Arkansas soccer team closed its nonconference slate Saturday with one of those nights where it seemed most things went in its favor.
The Razorbacks, during a 4-2 win over BYU, attacked vigorously and conceded few chances against a Cougars program that has reached the College Cup in two of the past three seasons.
“We needed this game, right? BYU is a good team,” Arkansas coach Colby Hale said. “We needed to be tested and stretched a little bit. … For us, it’s growth. Obviously it’s great, we want to win all of our games. I was most pleased with the performance in the second half and the recovery from the first.”
BYU had some key graduations since last season, but it was still picked to win the Big 12 in the preseason coaches poll and entered the season ranked No. 3 in the United Soccer Coaches top 25. Saturday marked a meeting of two of college soccer’s premier programs of recent years, with Arkansas’ third-largest crowd in program history of 3,046 welcoming the occasion, and the spectacle matched the anticipation.
“That team is going to just keep getting better,” Hale said. “They’re pretty young. … That was the best we’d seen them play. They’re going to keep winning games.”
The Razorbacks — with goals coming through an Anaiyah Robinson brace, Ava Tankersley’s penalty and Kate Doyle’s opener — finished nonconference play unbeaten and as the highest-scoring team in the country at five goals per game.
“We have so many girls that can contribute,” forward Macy Schultz said. “I think that people contributing, coming onto the game, and starters contributing is our biggest thing and we just continue to score goals.”
The Cougars’ scorers were Erin Bailey — whose goal ended a nearly 370-minute Razorback shutout streak — and Tara Warner.
Arkansas’ defense largely held firm against BYU’s high-profile attack, with goalkeeper Keegan Smith making six saves while seeing other shots sail comfortably away from goal. The Razorbacks monitored the Cougars’ runs well and didn’t allow for much space with the ball.
Arkansas’ defense was stout throughout nonconference play, with five total goals conceded in seven matches.
“I really think our big thing has been communication,” defender Avery Wren said. “Our back line is constantly changing. People are constantly changing. … Being on the same page and also playing good balls for our forwards so they can go score.”
Hale felt the second half was better than the first, with the Razorbacks controlling the play and emphasizing movements into wide areas with the ball and suffocating space on defense. He felt the connecting passes were better in the second half and that they were better at avoiding BYU counterattacks.
“We were able to connect the second and third pass,” Hale said. “The first half, we just kept giving the ball away and we couldn’t get numbers forward. … I thought, in the second, we pushed higher, we found the attack, we locked it in and we were off to the races.
“I thought we were just a lot more composed in transition in the second.”
The Razorbacks open SEC play against LSU at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 19 at Razorback Field. League play should offer more tests than some of the nonconference opponents.
But Arkansas showed its potential with Saturday’s win, as well as the win over Gonzaga and 10-player road draw against No. 5 Michigan State.
“I think it was a good final test before the SEC because no one in the SEC is going to be an easy win,” Schultz said. “It was good preparation for sure.
“Games like this really prep us,” Wren added. “We’re going to to play two games a week that are going to be just like this, so this was huge.”