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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas soccer coach Colby Hale has talked about how “hungry” his Razorbacks are heading into the new season.
Despite winning the SEC regular-season title last year — Arkansas’ fifth championship in the past seven years — the Razorbacks felt they left something to be desired.
Arkansas now has a healthy core of returning players from last season and a group of newcomers the staff feels good about, and the 2026 season is getting closer.
The Razorbacks were picked to finish second in the SEC preseason coaches’ poll. Vanderbilt was tabbed as the favorite.
“I think this team, this year, is looking a lot better,” midfielder Aniyah Nurse-Whyte said. “I feel like the energy is so much higher than it was last year. It just looks a lot better this year. I don’t know if it’s the energy or if it’s just vibes, I’m not really sure, but it feels good.”
Arkansas will play two exhibitions before it opens the new season against Baylor at 7 p.m. Aug. 12 at Razorback Field.
Arkansas head coach Colby Hale directs players, Wednesday, July 15, 2026, during the Razorbacks’ first practice of the fall season at Razorback Field in Fayetteville. (Hank Layton/WholeHogSports)
Hale’s team is set to host Kansas City at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Razorback Field before it travels to face perennial power Memphis at 8 p.m. Saturday at Murphy Soccer/Track & Field Complex.
“You’re not flying on all cylinders on your first game, so we’ll use that for just playing a game against an outside opponent,” Hale said. “We’ll probably play everyone pretty evenly in the game.”
The Roos were the No. 5 seed in the Summit League Tournament and fell to 2-1 to Oral Roberts in the semifinals last season. The Tigers earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after they fell to Texas-San Antonio in penalties and advanced to the second round, where they fell 4-0 to TCU.
Memphis finished the regular season undefeated.
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Kansas City finished with a positive goal difference last season despite conceding 43 more shots than it took. The Roos conceded 1.6 goals per game.
Senior midfielder Olivia Platt is the Roos’ leading offensive returner. She scored 9 goals and had 5 assists last season, while midfielder Ashley Koch had 6 goals and 7 assists.
“[The Roos] will defend well,” Hale said. “They’ll have a couple really nice players, they’re well-coached. … That will be a nice first match to get some nerves out and play a little bit. That first game is always interesting.”
Memphis’ lone regulation defeat in 2025 was its season-ending loss to TCU in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers went 3-0-1 against SEC opponents, defeating Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Missouri while drawing Tennessee.
Memphis allowed 0.67 goals per game last season and scored 2.52 per match. The Tigers only conceded 14 goals in the entirety of the season.
Arkansas head coach Colby Hale (center) directs forward/midfielder Natalie Wagner (left) and other players, Wednesday, July 15, 2026, during the Razorbacks’ first practice of the fall season at Razorback Field in Fayetteville. (Hank Layton/WholeHogSports)
Ai Kitigawa is Memphis’ top returning offensive contributor from last season, when she scored 10 goals and had 5 assists. The Tigers had six players score 4 or more goals last season and eight who had 3 or more assists.
“We’ll play them at night under the lights. We’re pretty excited,” Hale said. “That’s a top, top program.”
More than results, Hale said the exhibitions will be about “process and consistency” as the Razorbacks look ahead to the new season. Arkansas faces three teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament last season in nonconference play: Baylor, North Carolina and Clemson.
Arkansas hopes to carry over momentum from what Hale called a “productive” spring exhibition slate in which it won each of its five matches by a combined score of 15-1.
“I thought the spring was very consistent,” Hale said. “Our leadership is pretty good. We invested some into that in the spring, I think it’s paid off. We have some naturally good leaders, so I think some of the pieces are there, for sure, to have some success.”
Anthony Kristensen
Anthony Kristensen is a reporter for WholeHogSports covering Arkansas men’s basketball and soccer. He is a member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and North American Soccer Reporters. He is a voter in the Associated Press Men’s Basketball Top 25. He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and previously worked for the Evansville (Ind.) Courier & Press.
