Arkansas soccer beats ORU, earns weekend split
Jimmy Carter
Issue date: 9/3/08 Section: Sports
Arkansas junior mid-fielder Kathleen Paulsen scored on an athletic bicycle kick with just over nine minutes left in the contest, to rally the Razorbacks to a 4-3 victory over Oral Roberts.
"I just saw the ball pop up and I was thinking 'I've got to get it into the net' and so I just turned around and biked it," Paulsen said.
Arkansas head coach Gordon Henderson said the win was especially big for the Hogs after losing a nail-biter Friday night to Tulsa.
"It's a big win because it builds confidence," Henderson said. "So we played through some frustrations today. I think we learned from Friday night, which was good."
Arkansas came out aggressive early on and their physical play continued throughout the game, as evidenced by the 14 fouls called on Razorback players.
"I thought that Tulsa came ready to play on Friday night, and we were more concerned about playing soccer than being ready to play, and I think you have to have both," Henderson said. "So I was happy to see that we played soccer today, but we were also ready to compete."
Despite Arkansas controlling the ball, the Golden Eagles kept the game close by maximizing their opportunities, converting all three shots-on-goal.
"I honestly can't fault our defense for anything that happened," Henderson said. "Those were some fantastic goals that they [ORU] scored, so it's really not anything that we're doing wrong. On a different day that's a 4-0 game for us."
The Razorbacks were the beneficiaries of a strong performance from junior mid-fielder Kim Schleif, who opened the scoring with a goal off an assist from sophomore mid-fielder Kelly O'Connor at the 7:44 mark.
"I think she [Schleif] played fantastic," Henderson said. "I call her a mercurial kind of a player, because when she's on, man she can just take it to the next level. And what about that first goal she scored, a magnificent strike."
ORU responded when Kaycie Porter scored at the 33:28 mark to even the score at 1-1 heading into halftime.
"I just saw the ball pop up and I was thinking 'I've got to get it into the net' and so I just turned around and biked it," Paulsen said.
Arkansas head coach Gordon Henderson said the win was especially big for the Hogs after losing a nail-biter Friday night to Tulsa.
"It's a big win because it builds confidence," Henderson said. "So we played through some frustrations today. I think we learned from Friday night, which was good."
Arkansas came out aggressive early on and their physical play continued throughout the game, as evidenced by the 14 fouls called on Razorback players.
"I thought that Tulsa came ready to play on Friday night, and we were more concerned about playing soccer than being ready to play, and I think you have to have both," Henderson said. "So I was happy to see that we played soccer today, but we were also ready to compete."
Despite Arkansas controlling the ball, the Golden Eagles kept the game close by maximizing their opportunities, converting all three shots-on-goal.
"I honestly can't fault our defense for anything that happened," Henderson said. "Those were some fantastic goals that they [ORU] scored, so it's really not anything that we're doing wrong. On a different day that's a 4-0 game for us."
The Razorbacks were the beneficiaries of a strong performance from junior mid-fielder Kim Schleif, who opened the scoring with a goal off an assist from sophomore mid-fielder Kelly O'Connor at the 7:44 mark.
"I think she [Schleif] played fantastic," Henderson said. "I call her a mercurial kind of a player, because when she's on, man she can just take it to the next level. And what about that first goal she scored, a magnificent strike."
ORU responded when Kaycie Porter scored at the 33:28 mark to even the score at 1-1 heading into halftime.
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