Podojil's Record-Setting Goal Leads Hogs Soccer to Win
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Blink and you'll miss it. A school record 3,660 fans saw Arkansas kick off home conference play in emphatic fashion, scoring two goals in the first 7 minutes en route to a 5-0 victory over No. 9 Alabama. Graduate forward Anna Podojil, who came into the night with 47 goals, just one behind the Division I lead for goals among active players, made her presence felt right away, assisting on both goals.
"All of it," coach Colby Hale said later. "The crowd, the marketing, Woo Pig Sooie!, all of it. Obviously, the players are really good and they win a lot of games ... We want to be the best at everything and we're well on our way."
Graduate midfielder Bea Franklin got the Hogs on the board first, who thumped a finish in from close range into the top right corner of the net in the fourth minute.
Freshman defender Avery Wren didn't take long to double the lead for her first collegiate goal. The ball fell to her right at the top of the box with not a defender in sight. Wren tucked the ball into the left corner of the goal with quite some pace.
Podojil herself would get in on the scoring action and tied Emma Hawkins of Oklahoma for the most goals among active players. Podojil now leads in both goals and total points across the NCAA. Her finish in the 15th minute gave the Hogs a 3-0 lead going into halftime.
"My job is to score goals for this team," Podojil said. "Scoring goals is fun. I'm not thinking about how many I'm scoring or what the awards are, but it's amazing to have that accolade. I'm just going to keep pushing to help my team win."
Both teams had their chances, but only the Hogs found the back of the net. Arkansas outshot the Crimson Tide 14-9 in the first half, but Alabama had four shots on goal. Freshman goalie Phoebe Carver, making her first start stepped up to the task each time to keep the Tide off the scoreboard.
Graduate transfer from Marshall Morgan White applied the coup de grâce with two goals in the second half, her fifth and sixth of the season. The second goal, in the 69th minute, was a unique banana curl right over the head of a defender.
"It was a cross," White said. "Everyone has been telling me to say it was a goal, so I'll say it was a goal."
The Hogs will continue conference play on the road against Texas A&M Sunday at 6 p.m. The game will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.
HOGS FEED:
TRUE FRESHMAN SLOWLY BECOMING ONE OF FEW BRIGHT SPOTS IN DAN ENOS'S OFFENSE
MUSS BUS CONTINUES TO BRING POTENTIAL TOP RECRUITS TO FAYETTEVILLE
HOGS LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED TO PREPARE FOR LSU'S DEATH VALLEY
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