Sept. 27, 2009
OXFORD, Miss. - Hannah Weatherly converted on her double-overtime penalty kick for the game-winner for Ole Miss as the Auburn soccer team fell, 3-2, in double-overtime on Sunday afternoon. Auburn dropped to 4-3-3, 1-1-0 SEC while Ole Miss improved to 7-2-0, 1-0-0 SEC.
Auburn dominated the scoring chances for the final 40-plus minutes of play but could not finish on enough of its chances to pull out the win. Rebecca Howell hit the crossbar twice in the span of four minutes in the second half and Auburn outshot Ole Miss, 17-6 for the final 42 minutes but could only score once while yielding a second-half goal to Ole Miss when Auburn was up, 2-1, and then the double-overtime penalty kick.
"It was a great soccer game," Auburn Head Coach Karen Hoppa said. "I thought we were the better team today. We had more chances, we hit the post and we missed some open looks. The bottom line is we have to finish our opportunities."
Ole Miss was awarded its penalty kick at the 105:43 mark as Christine Schweer pulled down Kelsey Breathitt just inside the side line of the 18. Ole Miss then turned to Weatherly for the kick, and she was able to convert for her fourth goal of the season.
"It's such a shooter's advantage with penalty kicks. I thought Amy (Howard) was brilliant today again. She gave us a chance to win again prior to that penalty kick but we didn't put away our chances, and that's more the issue than the penalty kick," Hoppa said.
Rebecca Howell's 18th career goal put Auburn ahead in the 15th minute when she finished off a set piece for her fourth goal of the season. Katy Frierson served in a corner to the top of the six where Julie King was able to get a head on the ball and flick it to Howell and then past Ole Miss goalkeeper Alley Ronaldi for the early lead.
Ole Miss was able to tie it up in the 42nd minute when Lily Crabtree leapt and headed in an Abbie Curran cross for her first goal of the season, putting the score at 1-1 heading into halftime.
Ole Miss controlled the chances coming out of the break, taking six shots before Auburn was able to get one off. When Auburn finally did get a chance, it completely turned the tables on Ole Miss. Howell had three straight clean looks but came up empty each time, taking a shot from the top of the 18 in the 63rd minute that Ronaldi was able to save and then hitting the crossbar in both the 64th and 68th minutes.
Ana Cate was able to finally capitalize in the 70th minute, lofting in a shot from 25 yards out over the arms of a back-peddling Ronaldi. Cate had taken possession just over the midfield stripe and dribbled up uncovered before finishing off with her first career goal to put Auburn up, 2-1.
Ole Miss answered in the 77th minute as Taylor Cunningham beat Howard from just outside the six after taking two touches off of a Weatherly feed, tying the game at 2-2 with 13 minutes remaining in regulation.
Howell again nearly put Auburn ahead in the 81st minute but an Ole Miss defender was able to clear Howell's point-blank shot from inside the six off the line to keep it tied.
A scramble following an Auburn free kick resulted in three successive shots for Auburn as Caitlin King, Chelsea Yauch and Julie King all were able to fire off shots but each was blocked by the Ole Miss defense. Howell then had a chance 30 seconds later but this time Ronaldi was able to put the mitts on it to keep it 2-2 with just over three minutes remaining.
A finger-tip save by Howard on a Weatherly shot with a minute left in regulation sent the game into overtime. Weatherly ripped the shot from two steps inside the 18 but Howard, who came off her line to cut down the angle, was able to deflect the shot up and into the crossbar, where it bounced down and out.
Auburn took five shots in overtime to Ole Miss' two.
Howard finished with nine saves for Auburn while Ronaldi had five Ole Miss.
The overtime match was the fifth of the season for Auburn, which is 0-2-3 when playing extra time. It was also the fourth time in the last five meetings between Auburn and Ole Miss that the match went to double-overtime, with Auburn going 0-3-1 in those matches.
Auburn returns home for a pair of matches this weekend, playing host to Arkansas on Friday at 7:30pm CT and LSU at 2pm on Sunday. ESPNU will air Sunday's Auburn-LSU match live.