Sept. 15, 2007
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Auburn surrendered a pair of goals in the first half for the first time all season and was not able to overcome the early deficit as the Auburn soccer team fell at No. 11 Florida State, 3-0, on Saturday night. The loss dropped Auburn's record to 2-2-1 while Florida State moves to 4-2-0.
"You have to say that we got beat by a better team tonight," Auburn Head Coach Karen Hoppa said. "We have to give Florida State credit, they played great. They are athletic at every position and they play really good soccer. There is a reason they were in the final four the last two years. For us it's a good lesson. We are a young team and we didn't make good adjustments to what they were doing, but we can use this as a building block as we move forward. This game will prepare us for the SEC season more than any game we have won thus far."
Mami Yamaguchi gave FSU the quick lead as her header off of a cross at the 8:39 mark found the back of the net behind AU goalkeeper Allison Whitworth. Marissa Kazbour then made it 2-0 Florida State in the 39th minute as she deflected in a cross to the lower right side.
Yamaguchi's goal ended Whitworth's shutout streak at 118:39.
Auburn, which was limited to five shots in the match, had its best chance to draw within a goal in the 59th minute as Kori Hoelsher's near-side cross eluded almost everyone before finding the foot of an awaiting Kara Kasten on the far side. However her point-blank shot was snuffed out by a pair of downed FSU defenders lying just in front of the FSU goal line.
Erika Sutton's header off of a free kick in the 62nd minute sealed the victory for Florida State, which has now won 23 consecutive home matches.
Whitworth made six saves on 17 shots in the match.
Auburn returns to the field on Friday, Sept. 21, at Samford. The two teams will square off at 7pm CT.
