FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Kayla Rollins scored a goal in the 40^th minute to cut the deficit to 2-1 but Arkansas answered back right before intermission and rode that momentum to hand the Milwaukee women's soccer team its first loss of the 2023 season Thursday night at Razorback Field.
 
The Panthers (2-1-2) were back within striking distance again in the second half against the nationally-ranked Razorbacks (3-0-1) but ran out of time against the No. 8 team in the country.
 
"Well, it was a tough game for us tonight," head coach Kevin Boyd said. "We certainly didn't feel like we performed at our best. In the first 20 minutes we found ourselves down 2-0 and then we rallied and had some better moments. Still gave up a couple more bad goals but we did have some good moments in there as well."
 
Down 2-0 late in the first half, Jada Rivera won the ball after a long free kick off the foot of Brooke Parnello. She played it off to Senya Meurer, who found Rollins in stride at the top of the box for the one-touch goal at the 39:34 mark.
 
Milwaukee looked to take that momentum into the locker room at the break, but the Hogs used a bit of good fortune – scoring off a free kick from near midfield that pinballed off two more heads – and into the back of the net to push the advantage back to two at 3-1 in the 43^rd minute.
 
"The tough thing is that you can prepare your team and tell them what is going on but you just can't mimic their athleticism, their speed, and the way that they play – you just can't mimic it in training with your own squad," Boyd said. "We got into it and it was what we told them, but it was difficult for them to adapt to and took them too long. But the saying is, you have to get experience to have experience. We now have more experience; we got a large dose of it in this game, and we will be better because of this game. That is why we came here – to try and gain experience and prepare us for things that will happen further down the road this season. "
 
Milwaukee forced the first save of the second half on a Lainey Higgins shot in the 48^th before allowing another unfortunate one when the goalkeeper and defense converged at the top of the box. No one was able to clear and Arkansas had an open net and a 4-1 lead at the 52:09 mark.
 
But the Panthers were not done and pulled one back in the 70^th minute. It was Rollins again, who this time was fouled by the Razorback keeper after breaking free in the box. Lola Wojcik stepped to the spot and calmly converted, making it 4-2 at the 69:05 mark.
 
The next goal either way would essentially help decide the outcome, and it was the home team that came up with it after burying a ball that couldn't quite get cleared out of trouble in the 84^th minute to make it 5-2 and help the Razorbacks extend their unbeaten streak at home to 25 games (23-0-2) dating back to the 2020 season.
 
"Overall, it was still a good game for us … very, very good opponent who I expect will go far this year," Boyd said. "For us, we are focused on Sunday. We are going to have short memories, take the pieces we learned, and move on to concentrate on Sunday's opponent."
 
For the match, Milwaukee ended up being outshot 14-6, but all six of the MKE attempts were on goal (9-6 Arkansas). The Hogs also earned seven of the 11 corner kicks in the game. Rollins led the offense with two shots. In net, Kendall Edwards made three saves in the first 45 minutes; Parker Donahugh played the second half, recording one save.
 
The Panthers return from down south to host Western Illinois Sunday, set for a 1 p.m. kickoff.