FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 6 Arkansas soccer team started slower than would have been expected on paper in its 3-1 exhibition victory over Tennessee Martin on Tuesday at Razorback Field.
The Razorbacks and Skyhawks went into halftime tied 1-1, with coach Colby Hale saying “it was just super sloppy.”
“I think this will end up being a good thing,” he said. “We said the word ‘yet’ is very important. We’re not good enough, yet. If we had to win a national championship today, we would not, yet. I think this team can be really good, but we’re going to have to get better at some stuff.”
Arkansas is scheduled to face Oral Roberts at 7 p.m. Saturday at Razorback Field in its final exhibition.
“It was a rough first one,” Hale said. “That’s why you play them. We did not look sharp. We were not good at the things we needed to be good at…. Clearly, we’re four or five days in; there’s no panic button. We didn’t play well and we’ve got to make sure we’re playing hard. [UT Martin] looked like a team that was coming in to make a point.”
Hale and midfielder Cora Hair both said there were some nerves in playing as a group for the first time against an outside opponent. The Razorbacks lost several key contributors to graduation last season — including Ava Tankersley and Kate Doyle, their two leading scorers — but return a core of returners who are building relationships with a newcomer class that includes nine freshmen.
Arkansas’ goals came from Hair’s header on BYU transfer Erin Bailey’s first-half corner, a tap-in from Sabrina Jones after a well-worked possession in the second half and Paige Szymanski’s finish on a scramble in front of goal following a free kick.
UT Martin’s Allie Buchmann scored in the first half on a strike that went into the top corner from about 35 yards out.
“The first game is always tough because you have to work through some kinks and I think that showed today,” defender Kate Carter said. “We have a lot of new talent, and I think it’s just figuring out how all that works together…. Once we can put that together, I think we’ll be really successful.”
The Skyhawks set themselves in a low block for much of the match but put together some good passing combinations to relieve some of the pressure when they gained possession. UT Martin dealt with the Razorbacks’ press well in the early moments but did not sustain it throughout the match’s entirety, with the hosts skill and athleticism overpowering the visitors.
“Our press was not good,” Hale said. “I’m sure there’s a lot of reasons; excuses are for losers. The press was poor. We’ve got to get better.”
Arkansas controlled possession for the duration of the evening and out shot UT Martin 17-5, hitting the crossbar twice. Hale said the Skyhawks’ goal came from Arkansas being disorganized.
“Credit to UT Martin. I thought they were really good,” Hale said. “I thought they played really hard, they competed. As the game went on, we had quite a few chances, but I mean, we scored 3 goals. That’s not our standard.”
The Razorbacks played largely rotated teams, with a total of 23 outfield players and 2 goalkeepers.
Hair, who returned to action last season after recovering from thyroid cancer, controlled the midfield well and won most of her individual battles.
“It felt good to get back out there, be in some full-game scenarios,” Hair said. “I feel like sometimes it’s not replicated as much in practice than, again, playing against someone that’s not ourselves.”
Hale puts a large emphasis on set pieces, and Arkansas scored twice from set plays.
Bailey’s corner found Hair open at the far post and Szymanski’s finish came after Avery Wren had a well placed ball into the box on a free kick.
“It was good, but even those were really poor,” Hale said. “The execution was poor. We kicked too many corners out of bounds, we didn’t win first or second contact. It just wasn’t good, any of it.
“Game 1, so there’s no panic here. But they know, they’re smart. They know what it’s supposed to look like. Not one of them is in the huddle like, ‘Oh, we were so good.’ They were like, ‘OK, we’ve got to get our [stuff] together.”
The Razorbacks open the season against No. 13 Iowa at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 14 at Razorback Field.
Tuesday and Saturday’s upcoming match against Oral Roberts should give Arkansas a framework to build on before opening the season against one of the Big Ten’s preseason favorites.
“We really need to work on our speed of play and being more relaxed in the final third,” Hair said. “We’re us when we’re pressing, we’re playing quick, we’re running, and I just think there was pieces of that missing tonight. But that’s typical first game, I feel like.”