Arkansas soccer opens road slate against Loyola Maryland Sunday

Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story.

The Arkansas soccer team hits the road this weekend for its first true test away from Fayetteville.

The No. 10 Razorbacks will face Loyola Maryland on Sunday and the Hogs need a bounce-back effort after a tough start to the season.

Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. and fans can watch on ESPN+. Glenn Clark will call the play-by-play with Jamie Watson breaking things down as the analyst.

Loyola opened its own season with a 1-1 draw against William & Mary. The Greyhounds haven’t faced an SEC team since 2005, when they lost to Florida 2-0.

That’s what makes this matchup a little different for the home team.

Loyola has gone 25-14-13 at Ridley over the last five seasons.

Last year the Greyhounds were 2-3-4 at home and finished 2-2-5 in Patriot League play even though they had one of the league’s better defenses. They’ll also host Iowa State before conference games begin in September.

The Razorbacks are looking to erase a rough memory from their opener. Arkansas fell to Baylor 4-1 on Wednesday, the largest home loss of coach Colby Hale’s tenure.

The Hogs trailed 1-0 at halftime after a Baylor penalty kick then gave up three goals in about 10 minutes during the second half.

Arkansas avoided a shutout thanks to Aniyah Nurse-Whyte, who headed home a corner kick from freshman Jordan Bryant in the 68th minute.

Eight different Razorbacks made their debut in an Arkansas uniform that day and seven of them were playing their first-ever college match.

Razorbacks face a loaded schedule this fall

This season won’t get any easier once Loyola is in the rearview mirror.

Arkansas is set to play five ranked opponents this year, including No. 8 North Carolina, No. 16 LSU, No. 19 Georgia, No. 24 Tennessee and No. 25 Clemson.

Eight of the Hogs’ opponents made last year’s NCAA Tournament, a group that includes North Carolina, Baylor, Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee and Kentucky.

North Carolina and Baylor both reached the Sweet 16 while Clemson advanced to the second round.

Before the regular season began, Arkansas ran through two exhibition matches.

The Hogs beat Kansas City 3-0 then dropped a road game to No. 21 Memphis 2-0.

Sophomore Vailana Tu’ua scored twice in a four-minute stretch and senior Bella Field added a header five minutes later.

Arkansas also played five spring matches and outscored its opponents by a combined 15-1.

That stretch included a 2-0 road win over TCU, a program that reached last year’s College Cup.

Nurse-Whyte led the Razorbacks with three goals in the spring while Zoe Susi, Natalie Wagner, Tu’ua and Lauren Van Rhein each scored twice.

Arkansas enters the year ranked No. 10 in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll and No. 18 in TopDrawerSoccer’s rankings. SEC coaches predicted the Hogs to finish second in the league.

Arkansas has now been ranked in every United Soccer Coaches poll for 204 straight weeks, a streak that dates back to September of 2022.

Keegan Smith anchors the Arkansas defense

Junior goalkeeper Keegan Smith has quickly become one of the best in program history.

As a freshman in 2024 she tied the single-season shutout record with 11 and posted the second-lowest goals-against average in program history at .62.

She shut out seven of Arkansas’ 10 SEC regular season foes that year and helped push the Hogs to their first Sweet 16 since 2022.

Smith missed 11 games in 2025 with a hip flexor issue but returned for the NCAA Tournament opener against Dartmouth, picking up her 14th career shutout.

In between call-ups to U.S. Youth National Team camps, she also tied her career high with nine saves in a September win at BYU.

Arkansas leans heavily on its home crowd too.

The Hogs are unbeaten in 52 of their last 55 matches at Razorback Field, a run dating back to 2021, and they’ve outscored opponents 194-43 during that stretch.

This marks the seventh straight season Arkansas has opened the year ranked inside the top two of the preseason poll, trailing only Vanderbilt this time around.

Key takeaways

• Arkansas plays its road opener at Loyola Maryland on Sunday at 5 p.m. on ESPN+ after a 4-1 season-opening loss to Baylor
• The Hogs face five ranked teams and eight NCAA Tournament qualifiers from last season on their 2026 schedule
• Goalkeeper Keegan Smith and a 52-of-55 unbeaten streak at Razorback Field give Arkansas a strong home foundation to build on