Difficult weekend in store for newly ranked Lady'Back soccer
Matt Watson
Issue date: 10/20/06 Section: Sports
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The latest polls by SoccerBuzz, an Internet soccer magazine, ranked Arkansas 15 in the central region, tied with the University of Texas-El Paso.
The ranking is also the first for any soccer team in the state of Arkansas.
"I think it's huge," said Head Coach Gordon Henderson. "We'll take an afternoon to pat ourselves on the back and then get right back to work."
The NCAA released its midseason rating percentage index (RPI) earlier in the month as well, and the Lady'Backs are unbeaten in three conference matches since they were rated as the No. 53 team in the country, the seventh best RPI amongst SEC teams.
"Our RPI last year was 187, so let's give credit where credit is due," Henderson said. "We've already achieved some things we've never achieved before."
Henderson's squad is having its best season since 1996 when Arkansas won the SEC West with an 11-7-3 overall record. This year's team is 10-4-1 (3-3-1) with four games left on the schedule.
Arkansas takes on the best team in the conference tonight at 6:00 p.m. CST in Gainesville, Fla. The Florida Gators are ranked No.12 nationally and No. 4 in the southeast region and haven't lost a match since Oct. 1.
The Gators are 10-4-2 overall (6-1-1 in the SEC) and haven't been defeated this season by more than one goal.
The Lady'Backs have a formidable task in crashing Florida's Senior Day. Arkansas has never beaten the Gators, who lead the all-time series 10-0-0 and won last year's match 1-0.
Henderson isn?t worried about going on the road against one of the best teams in the country.
"There's no pressure on us, we're not expected to win," he said. "You play the games for a reason. If they play well, and we play better, we can win."
The Gator offense is led by sophomore Ameera Abdullah who was recently named SEC Offensive Player of the Week for the second straight week. Abdullah leads Florida in goals scored and shots on goal for the season.
However the Lady'Back defense has been very stubborn lately, shutting out its last two opponents.
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