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Hogs Soccer Shares More Than No. 1 Ranking with Nolan’s Best

Heory
Hogs Soccer Shares More Than No. 1 Ranking with Nolan’s Best

photo credit: AP / Arkansas Athletics

As my final season with Arkansas soccer has begun, it is impossible not to reflect on how much has changed since I joined the program as a freshman in 2021.

At just 17 years old, I was trying to keep up and navigate the intensity of SEC soccer. Fast forward three short years to today, where I am preparing for my last run with a stronger, deeper and hungrier team than ever before. With Thursday’s win at Vanderbilt, we improved to 8-0-1 overall and 3-0 in SEC play. That’s led to us being ranked No. 2 in the United Soccer Coaches poll behind Michigan State and No. 1 by TopDrawerSoccer for the first time in program history. 

Last season’s 4-3 loss to Pittsburgh in the second round of the NCAA Tournament left a sting that never faded. The defeat was a bitter yet necessary moment that ignited a fire within us. That carried over to January, when we started the spring with a new perspective.

Over my four years here, there have been season-enders that we as a team cannot simply forget. In 2021, we lost in the Elite 8 to Rutgers in a PK shootout, and in 2022, we fell to Florida State in our second Elite 8 appearance. Finally, most recently, in 2023, it was Pittsburgh that ended our run earlier than anticipated. A mix of anger and resilience coursed through our locker room heading into the off-season. We had unfinished business and much more to prove.

Aragon’s Personal Setbacks

Personally, my spring journey was one with many ups and downs. The first day of spring practice was frigid, and the city of Fayetteville was recovering from one of its well-known freezes. In the first drill, I started to run, but my cleat slid on an undetectable patch of ice and I felt a pop in my knee.

I immediately froze and panicked. Pain flooded my leg as I attempted to move it. I told myself everything would be fine if I could just get up and walk it off. But every time I wanted to take a step, it felt so unstable and the pain intensified. I remember telling myself that this couldn’t be happening to me. Denial was setting in. When my trainers rushed to me, I had tears running down my face, but I started to laugh. I laughed, “No, it’s fine. It just really hurts.” I refused to accept the possibility that something terrible had happened. I was terrified yet angry. 

An injury is the moment that no one prepares you for as a collegiate athlete. As elite competitors, we push our physical and mental limits daily. We have our eyes focused on achieving goals and upholding the highest standards. An injury is the unanticipated setback that pauses all the momentum. It’s a brutal reminder that things can instantly change when pursuing excellence.

In my case, I was lucky. Although my knee did the movement that would typically cause a tear, my ACL remained intact. I had damaged a few other components of my knee, but I didn’t need reconstructive surgery. I was fitted with a brace and worked my way through rehab for about three months. 

Finally, I returned to play at the end of the spring season. Shortly after, I was involved in a collision during practice and sustained a patellar dislocation along with ligament sprains. I had just played for a few weeks before I was out again. I was so frustrated. I had spent countless hours in rehab, and I was finally where I wanted to be. But in one moment, I’m back to square one again. I felt sad and defeated, but more than anything, I felt so angry.

Given the setbacks I faced in the spring and this fall being my final season, I decided to stay in Arkansas for summer conditioning. But on July 10, I suffered nerve damage in my right leg. I had some usual tightness involving the peroneal nerve located on the lower outside of the leg. For me, the best treatment to help resolve this is dry needling. Dry needling is a treatment I have done 100 times in various body parts. Unfortunately, for the first time in my life, one needle hit the superficial peroneal nerve.

A burning pain mixed and numbnesss shot up my leg for hours. had never felt nerve damage before, so this was an entirely new feeling to me. I couldn’t flex my toes upward, had trouble walking and barely slept, as it kept me up throughout the night. A week later, I received a PRP injection. Then, I had about two weeks of bare minimum activity before returning to play. 

Sadly, injuries are a part of the journey for many collegiate athletes.  Of course, experiencing three consecutive injuries is not ideal. But in the grand scheme, they all have fallen on the best side of the worst-case scenario; I’m incredibly grateful. 

Why This Year is Different for Arkansas Soccer

So far, my final season has been incredible. With a roster full of talented women hungry for a national championship, the Razorbacks lead the NCAA in a few offensive stats. Seventeen different players have scored this season over eight games.  In non-conference, we scored 35 goals in 6 games, which led the country. This non-conference stretch has perfectly exemplified how far we have come as a team and a program. The results are a testament to all the continuous hard work this team has put in day in and day out.

Our starting lineup this year is is near constant flux, which actually is a positive rather than destabilizing agent. When our first lineup of girls gets fatigued or we need an energy change, various people can substitute and completely change the game. With such a continuous rotation, not only does it prevent the opponent from getting comfortable, but it keeps us fresh.

In some ways, it is like the soccer version of Nolan Richardson’s “40 Minutes of Hell” philosophy that pushed the basketball Hogs to a No. 1 ranking for 16 weeks and national title in the 1993-94 season.

“We press really high and really often,” Arkansas soccer coach Colby Hale said in 2021. “Some people say they press, but they don’t press like we do. Nolan Richardson called it that. He said ‘We’re going to make you uncomfortable.’ And that’s what we do.’”

In years past, the Thursday-Sunday game schedule was quite demanding as the season went on. The same starters played most of the minutes in each game and would naturally wear down over time. But with a deeper sideline to pull from, it only makes us more dangerous. Some Razorbacks who have provided consistent energy off the bench and contributions include Taylor Berman, Lily Boydstun and cancer survivor Cora Hair.  Our substitutes only raise the intensity and maintain the standards our starters bring.

With our high-pressure and nonstop running style, having so many quality players is necessary. Coach Hale constantly reminds us that he only asks for one thing: our everything. Anything less than that is simply not good enough. Although we do not pace ourselves in games, we account for the long season.

Between games, it’s so important that I listen to my body’s needs and work accordingly. With an injury-prone past, I need some form of recovery treatment every day before and after practice and games. I also have strengthening throughout the week. If I don’t play as many minutes as anticipated on a Thursday night game, I scrimmage or run on Friday to make up mileage. That way, there isn’t a massive gap in fitness between the starters and the game-changers. 

Yes, we have achieved significant accomplishments and notable rankings early in the season, with TopDrawerSoccer tabbing us as the top-ranked team in the country. However, it is not enough. We recognize our early success, and the team shares a universal understanding that there must be a balance between celebrating along the way and maintaining high expectations in pursuit of the ultimate goal: a national championship.

It’s the ranking that surpasses all others and matters the most. That is why my teammates and I continue to fight and come back despite hardships, tough losses and injuries. Adding another national championship trophy to the long list that Razorback sports programs have brought home over the years is what we won’t ever stop pushing for.

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