Arkansas soccer player Anna Podojil shows off for friendly crowd.

FAYETTEVILLE — University of Arkansas sophomore forward Anna Podojil estimates there were around 40 family members and friends in attendance at Kentucky on Sunday to see her and her sister, freshman midfielder Ellie, play.

“We probably would have had about 100 if there weren’t any restrictions,” said Anna, who grew up in Cincinnati, about 80 miles from the Kentucky campus. “Being in the SEC, we don’t get to play too many games up north, so it was cool just to see so many fans there to support my sister and me.”

Podojil said playing in front of so many people she knew — Jordyn Rhoades, a Kentucky forward and the SEC’s leading goal scorer, is a childhood friend — provided motivation to be at her best. The result was one of the best games of Podojil’s career, a two-goal, two-assist outing as the Razorbacks defeated the Wildcats 4-1.

The SEC named Podojil league player of the week, and Top Drawer Soccer named her national player of the week.

“We always joke with Anna that she doesn’t know how good she is,” Arkansas Coach Colby Hale said. “She has a true humility to her that she just works hard for the team. Obviously she’s a really good player.

“I don’t think she sets out to score goals or get to credit. She sets out to help us win, and in that she scores goals.”

Podojil is no stranger to accolades. As a freshman, she was an All-American — the first ever at Arkansas, along with teammate Haley VanFossen — and was named SEC newcomer of the year after she scored 14 goals and had seven assists. Prior to this week, Podojil had won four SEC weekly awards and a national player of the week award.

With 16 goals scored through 25 career games, she is already among the Razorbacks’ all-time best, just six goals shy of teammate Kayla McKeon for 10th in program history.

Hale said he hasn’t been surprised by her success at such a young age.

“She’s pretty athletic, pretty tough,” Hale said. “We knew she was going to be pretty good.”

Podojil is also a member of Arkansas’ track and field program, redshirting in that sport as a freshman. Hale said Razorbacks track Coach Lance Harter thinks Podojil can be a scorer in the 400 meters.

“She’s an elite athlete,” Hale said.

Podojil attributes her success to having confidence.

“In college soccer you really have to have a different mentality,” Podojil said. “The transition into college, a lot of girls can back down and lose their confidence, so I think that’s a really important thing that I’ve done well with that.”

Up next for Podojil and No. 9 Arkansas is a high-profile matchup against No. 5 Texas A&M on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Razorback Field.

The Razorbacks (2-0) moved up four spots in this week’s United Soccer Coaches poll to set up the first-ever top-10 matchup in Fayetteville. Arkansas has played in one top-10 matchup in its history, a 1-0 loss to South Carolina in the championship game of the SEC Tournament in November when the Razorbacks were ranked sixth and the Gamecocks seventh in the coaches poll.

Arkansas had never been ranked in the top 10 prior to October.

Sunday’s game is expected to be significant to the SEC standings. The Razorbacks were picked by coaches to win the SEC in the preseason, while Texas A&M was predicted to finish third in the conference and second in the SEC West.

The Aggies (1-0) defeated Ole Miss 3-0 in their season opener, but had a game against Auburn postponed last week because of covid-19 quarantines.

(Special to the NWA Democrat-Gazette/David Beach) Anna Podojil (16) was named SEC player of the week after scoring two goals in a 4-1 victory over Kentucky on Sunday. Podojil, who was named SEC newcomer of the year last season, has scored 16 goals in 25 career games at Arkansas.