Women’s Soccer Tops Arkansas, 2-0

Thursday, August 20

Fayetteville, Ark.

7:30 p.m.

North Carolina

3-0-0, 0-0-0

Arkansas

0-2-1, 0-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
North Carolina	2	0	2
Arkansas	0	0	0

August 20, 2026 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – No. 7 Carolina women's soccer headed to Fayetteville, Ark. for their first road match of the season where they took on Arkansas for the first time in three seasons. The Tar Heels earned their third consecutive shutout of the season as they topped the Razorbacks Thursday night, 2-0.

Early offense made the difference as Carolina earned their first win in program history at Razorback Field. Both of their goals came within a two-minute window in just the 15^th minute of the match.

How it Happened
UNC came out strong on the attack to start the match. Summer Denigan found herself in scoring position taking two shots within the first three minutes of the game. Arkansas was able to hold off the early attempts from Carolina keeping the score at zero all.

In the 15^th minute, Scottie Antonucci drew a foul resulting in a penalty kick for the Tar Heels. Denigan stepped up to take the PK and drilled a shot to the back right corner of the goal to give Carolina the lead at 1-0.

Lilliah Blum netted the Tar Heels' second goal of the night just two minutes later. Antonucci served the ball in from the corner kick and the ball eventually found Blum square in front of the goal. The senior capitalized on her position to extend the lead while recording her second goal of the season.

Arkansas threatened with their first shot of the night and two corner kicks in the 28^th minute. The Tar Heel defense held on to keep the Razorbacks scoreless.

In the 37^th minute, Molly Reed from Arkansas was one-on-one inside the box, but freshman goalkeeper Peyton Trayer stepped up to make the save for UNC.

Carolina headed into halftime up 2-0.

In what seemed to be a momentum shift favoring the Razorbacks, the Arkansas goalkeeper recorded a save early in the second half. The Razorbacks then continued to be aggressive on both sides of the ball to keep the Tar Heels at bay.

UNC regained control down the stretch as Izzi Stratton entered the match and took a couple shots applying pressure on the Arkansas defense.

The Tar Heels continued to battle in the second half to maintain the lead and secure their third-straight victory, 2-0.

Tar Heel Tidbits

Carolina improves to 3-0 on the season while outscoring their opponents 14-0.
Lilliah Blum and Summer Denigan have now scored in two consecutive matches.
The Tar Heels took 19 shots with eight on goal.
Carolina's defense held Arkansas to five total shots with only two on goal.
UNC took nine corner kicks compared to the four by Arkansas.
The Tar Heels improve to 6-1 all time against the Razorbacks and earned their first win on the road in Fayetteville.
Peyton Trayer recorded a career-high two saves in goal.
Shaela Bradley made her return to the pitch in over a year due to injury. She saw 25 minutes of game action.