Arkansas beats Auburn 1-0 on Van Rhein goal, Smith shutout

Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.

Keegan Smith spent Sunday afternoon making sure Auburn never got on the scoreboard.

That’s all Arkansas needed. Arkansas soccer beats Auburn 1-0 at Razorback Field, and the Razorbacks’ long home run against league foes keeps on going.

The Hogs haven’t lost a home match to an SEC team in 29 tries. That streak goes back six years.

Arkansas moved to 4-4-2 on the season. It’s now 2-1-1 in conference play.

Auburn fell to 6-2-3 overall and 2-2-0 in the SEC.

Smith stopped four shots. It was her first solo shutout of the year.

It also gave her 15 clean sheets for her career. That total ranks fifth in school history.

Van Rhein finishes the play

The only goal came in the 20th minute. Freshman forward Lauren Van Rhein was the one who put it away.

The play started with midfielder Cora Hair. She got the ball to Van Rhein just outside the 18-yard box.

Van Rhein didn’t shoot right away. She slid it back to midfielder Aniyah Nurse-Whyte instead.

Nurse-Whyte let one fly, but it got deflected. The ball bounced right back to Van Rhein, who was now just outside the six-yard box.

This time she didn’t wait around. She drilled it into the lower right corner.

Auburn keeper Ayana Yapo dove to her left. The ball went the other way.

Van Rhein’s been busy lately. She also scored Thursday against Georgia, and that one tied the game.

Nurse-Whyte picked up her second assist of the season. Her last one came way back on Aug. 30 against Little Rock.

Hogs set the pace

Arkansas ran the show for most of the day. About 67% of its possession came on Auburn’s side of the field.

The Razorbacks outshot the Tigers 11-8. Yapo had to make four saves to keep it close.

Scoring on Auburn isn’t easy. The Tigers came to town with eight shutouts in 10 games.

They’d given up just two goals all year. So, yes, one goal was a big deal.

Auburn’s best look came with about 10 seconds left. Defender Jordyn Crosby ripped a shot that sailed just over the crossbar.

That was a little closer than Arkansas fans probably liked. But the scoreboard didn’t change.

The Hogs have now won 11 of their last 12 meetings with Auburn.

Missouri comes to town next

Arkansas stays home for its next match. The Hogs will host Missouri on Friday at 6:30 p.m.

The Tigers are coming off a rough Sunday of their own. South Carolina beat them 3-0.

Another home SEC match gives Arkansas a shot to push that streak to 30.