Aug. 29, 2010
MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Katy Frierson's chip shot over the goalkeeper with a pair of defenders breathing down her neck in the 75th minute propelled Auburn to a 2-1 win over UW-Milwaukee in the MKE Cup on Sunday afternoon at Marquette's Valley Fields.
"Today was a hard-fought game and (Milwaukee) was a very physical opponent," Frierson said. "We got a great goal by Jess Rightmer in the first and that really settled us down."
"We were very happy with how we started this game, especially in comparison to how we played on Friday," Auburn Head Coach Karen Hoppa said. "We made some changes and I thought the new players did a great job of bringing energy early. Getting the goal in the first half was massive for us and I am excited that Jess Rightmer got that first goal of her career."
Auburn (2-1-0) took a 1-0 lead into the half, capitalizing on a Rightmer goal in the 26th minute and reversing its fortunes from Friday night when Auburn allowed its opponent to dictate the pace and run of play.
Rightmer gave Auburn the lead when she finished off an Ashley Marks cross from eight yards out. The goal, which was the first of Rightmer's career, came when Milwaukee's keeper Leslie Deebach came off her line in an attempt to cut down the angle, but Rightmer was quick enough to slot her shot to the post. Ashley Marks and Julie King were credited with assists on the goal.
"I thought today we had a really good mentality coming back from Friday's game," Rightmer said. "Ashley played a great ball in, Julie played it to Ashley and it was just a great feeling to help the team."
Milwaukee (1-2-1) tied the game at 1-1 in the 68th minute when it capitalized on a lack of possession by both teams inside the 18, which caused Howard to come off her line. The result was a Keara Thompson goal after Melanie Coderre found her with no defender marking her.
Frierson snapped the tie when she went 1v1 in the box with Deebach, chipping a shot over the keeper for her second goal of the year. This time it was Lydia Townsend in on the play, feeding Frierson, who then showed off her playmaking abilities with a pair of defenders on her back. The goal was the ninth game-winner of Frierson's career, which is tied for second all-time in Auburn history.
"(The coaches) talked to us at the half about them getting higher and I looked up and I knew I could take one off the dribble and it kind of worked out where they all kind of got out of the way for me and I got in and finished on the keeper," Frierson said.
The goal was the 16th of Frierson's career, tied for eighth all-time at Auburn, and gave her 51 career points, making her just the 10th player in Auburn history to crack the 50-point barrier.
Auburn went 1-1-0 in the tournament while Milwaukee was 1-0-1.
Auburn returns home for a pair of matches next weekend, playing host to nationally ranked Florida State at 7pm on Friday, Sept. 3 and then Western Carolina at 2pm on Sunday, Sept. 5.