Sept. 4, 2009
AUBURN, Ala. - Caitlin King and Heather Havron set up Stephanie Fransoso's tie-breaking goal in the 61st minute as Auburn's offense capitalized on two of its second-half scoring chances to pull away from Kennesaw State, 3-1, on Friday night at the Auburn Soccer Complex. King added a goal on a penalty kick in the 86th minute as Auburn ran its unbeaten streak to four, improving to 2-0-2 on the season.
"We played really well and are obviously really pleased with the result. Our offense was better but it still needs to be better. We didn't like how tight it got in the second half, we should have been able to open it up in the first half," Auburn Head Coach Karen Hoppa said.
With the game all squared at 1-1 following a Kennesaw State goal in the 57th minute, King found Havron streaking down the sideline, allowing the defender to dribble deep into Auburn's attacking third. A cross to the opposite post found Fransoso on the run, who was able to one-touch it in for her first goal of the season and eighth of her career.
King put the game out of reach with her second goal of the season when she beat Kennesaw State goalkeeper Staci Pugh on a penalty shot at 85:15. Katy Frierson drew the PK as she raced past the Kennesaw State defense and was pulled down from behind inside the 18 as she attempted to make a cut towards Pugh. The goal was the 12th of King's career and her second in as many matches.
"It felt great to get that last goal in. I just tried to keep my calm and composure and place it in the net," King said. "We have been working a lot on getting the midfield and forwards working together and I think we saw that come through today on the field."
Auburn went up 1-0 in the first half when Frierson toyed with a Kennesaw State defender just outside the 18 before finding Jenni Prescott, who slotted a shot to the lower corner for her first goal of the season.
"I have been working hard this season to get the ball in the back of the net so it is nice to finally get one," Prescott said.
Auburn dominated the chances in both halves, taking 12 first half shots and 10 in the second, forcing Pugh into nine saves, six in the first half.
Kennesaw State (1-3-0) had tied the game at 1-1 in the 57th minute, scoring off of a corner kick. Alyssa Mahan served the ball into the six and Jade Dempster was able to get herself between the ball and Auburn goalkeeper Amy Howard, knocking it in while Howard was on her back.
Frierson's assist on Prescott's goal was her third of the season, giving her five points on the season and 30 career points in 26 career matches.
King took a team-high 10 shots to move up to seventh on the Auburn career charts with 133.
Auburn returns to the field on Friday at 7pm when it plays host to Missouri in the second game of the Auburn Soccer Classic. Vanderbilt and Texas Tech will square off at 4:30pm in the opener.
