Sept. 17, 2010
AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn soccer team waited until the 85th minute to score a goal but then scored a pair within two minutes of each other as it picked up a 2-0 win over in-state foe Samford on Friday night. Gabi Rivera scored the game-winner and then Mary Coffed put the game away in the 87th minute as Auburn improved to 6-2-0 on the year.
Dominating the shot column for the entire 90 minutes, Auburn struggled to get anything past Samford keeper Alyssa Whitehead in the first 84 minutes, who had not allowed a goal in 465 minutes of play. During the course of the match, Auburn was credited with 26 shots and played themselves into a season-high-tying 14 corners but struggled to get anything past the 6'3" Samford goalie.
"Samford had a good game plan and they were really effective for a long time," Auburn Head Coach Karen Hoppa said. "They man-marked Katy (Frierson) everywhere and did a good job of limiting her touches. I am really pleased with our team because we stayed with it and we didn't get frustrated. Finally with about six minutes left, Katy got a good ball to Gabi and Gabi scored a great goal, low far post which is what we were trying to do."
Ashley Marks found Katy Frierson at the top of the 18 to start the game-winning play. Auburn's leading point-scorer, Frierson then found an uncovered Rivera angling into the box, who went opposite post from 10 yards out for her first goal of the season.
"Katy was dribbling toward the defender and she saw me out wide," Rivera said. "I took a touch and saw the keeper was taking the near post so I just hit it low to the far post."
Auburn went right back to work after Rivera's goal with the result being Coffed's second goal of the season. This time it was again Frierson finding Rivera, who then slotted a pass to Coffed in almost an identical spot as Rivera's goal. Coffed too went opposite post, keeping Auburn's unbeaten mark over Samford intact at 6-0-1 all-time.
"Samford came out with a lot of intensity and matched us very well from the beginning," Coffed said. "I saw Gabi making a run out wide and I knew I had to beat one defender. I was hoping I could get a good quality shot off because I had some miskicks throughout the game. I was happy to get it and put the game away because in the last five minutes you never know what could happen."
"Immediately (after Rivera's goal) the game opened up because Samford had to come forward. We again got ahold of the ball and it was a great combination between Katy and Gabi to open up a good look for Coffed. It was really fantastic to get that second goal end the game," Hoppa said.
The two assists gave Frierson a team-leading 14 points and also tied her with Coffed for the team lead in assists with six. She now has 23 assists for her career, which ties her with Kristen Schier (1994-97) for fourth in school history, and has 59 career points, tied with Chrissy Culver (2001-04) for eighth in school history.
While the Auburn offense was pounding the Samford (4-3-1) defense, the Auburn defense held Samford to just two shots on the night, keeping Auburn goalkeeper Amy Howard from making any saves as she posted her ninth career shutout.
Auburn, which closed out the non-conference portion of its regular season schedule, heads into conference play with its most wins since it was 6-1-0 heading into the 2006 SEC season.
Auburn opens SEC play on Friday, Sept. 24 at home when it plays host to Mississippi State at 7pm. That match will be followed by a nationally-televised match against Ole Miss on Sunday, Sept. 26 on ESPNU at 4pm.