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Florida soccer's second-half rally not enough against Arkansas

On3 imageby: Gators Online Staff09/12/25GatorsOnline
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Florida celebrates Madison Jones' penalty kick, which cut No. 9 Arkansas' lead to one. The Razorbacks won the Southeastern Conference opener 3-2. (Photo by UAA Communications)

Story by Carston Handy

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators started conference play on Thursday and dropped their SEC opener against Arkansas. UF rallied from a halftime deficit with two second-half goals on penalty kicks, but the comeback came up short in a 3-2 loss to the Razorbacks.

Florida has struggled in its last five matches versus the Hogs, scoring four goals and allowing eight. The Gators have not beat Arkansas since 2018 when they forced a shutout on defense and score three goals in their 3-0 win. The Razorbacks never trailed on Thursday.

Arkansas wasted no time jumping out to a lead with freshman midfielder Nuria Craig putting the ball in the back of the net in the third minute. The Hogs would build upon this lead with two more goals by freshman Vailana Tu’ua in the 34th and 35th minutes.

“We were really disappointed in the quality of goals we gave up in the first half,” Florida coach Samantha Bohon said after the game.

Down 3-0 at halftime, the Florida Gators turned a switch offensively after the break. They were able to keep more possession of the ball and attack the Razorback defense.

“You could see in the second half, we made a little bit of a tactical adjustment,” said Bohon. “I think it paid off really, really well.”

By getting the ball more into the attacking part of the field, Florida found more opportunities to score. UF was awarded a penalty shot in the 47th minute after a foul in the box.

Freshman Kai Tsakiris stepped up to for the kick and buried the ball in the lower righthand corner of the net, bringing the Gators within two goals with 43 minutes left to play.

UF worked the ball down the right-hand side of the field and played it into the box when another Gator was fouled. After a video review confirmation, Florida was awarded another penalty.

Redshirt junior Madison Jones stepped up to take the penalty shot this time. Jones buried the ball into the back of the net to make it a one-score game with 22 minutes remaining.

From there, the Gators had a few more chances to tie it up. Their best chance was in the 75th minute when freshman Katie Johnston had a wide-open opportunity in front of the goal and shot it right at the Razorback goalie, forcing a save.

The Gators remained on the attack for the rest of the match with another chance coming with two minutes left. They had back-to-back corner kicks but were not able to convert the chances.

“I don’t think I could share too much,” Bohon said about her speech given to the players at halftime.

Moving forward, UF has a rough four-game stretch upcoming: at No. 20 Oklahoma, home against No. 17 South Carolina, at No. 24 Georgia and back home against Kentucky.

“Every game is a gauntlet, you know, in the SEC,” Bohon said. “That’s one thing I love about it.”

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