Sept. 30, 2011
OXFORD, Miss. - The No. 20 Auburn soccer team defeated Ole Miss in Oxford for the first time since 2003 and claimed its first regular season win over it at any venue since 2004 with a thrilling 3-2 victory on Friday night at the OIe Miss Soccer Complex. The win ran Auburn's undefeated streak to 10 straight and upped the clubs record to 9-1-1, 3-0-0 SEC. Ole Miss fell to 4-6-1, 0-3-0 SEC.
"I am relieved, we can take that monkey off our back," Auburn Head Coach Karen Hoppa said. "This is a tough place to play and that's why we hadn't won here in eight years. That Ole Miss team is quality and they came after us and in a lot of spurts in that game they outplayed us. We are just happy to be able to get out of here with a result."
Tatiana Coleman's fifth goal of the season sparked what was a wild 73rd minute and proved to be the game-winner, her third of the season. Coleman took the ball at the top of the box from Kim Spence and split a pair of Ole Miss defenders, firing a shot over Ole Miss goalkeeper Alley Ronaldi for a 3-1 Auburn lead. It was a short-lived two-goal lead, however, as Mandy McCalla answered 13 seconds after the midfield kick to make it 3-2 with 17 minutes remaining.
Ana Cate's sixth goal of the year had put Auburn up 1-0 in the 15th minute as she took a Mary Coffed feed and ran right down the middle at Ronaldi. Cate put a juke on Ronaldi, who committed to going down on the move, allowing Cate to walk in and score virtually uncontested.
"It was a great ball by Mary Coffed. She drew all of the defenders towards her and I was left all by myself down the middle," Cate said. "She did all the hard work and I just put it away."
Jenna Strother's third goal of the season tied the match at 1-1 with 6:37 left in the first half, setting up the wild final 46 minutes as Auburn would score one more time before halftime. Rafaella Souza had gained control on the far side of the field and ran down the sideline before crossing it into the box, where Strother one-touched it in while sliding to the ground for her third goal of the season.
Lydia Townsend's made sure the give Auburn a lead going into the locker room, however, as she netted her first goal since last season and the third of her career with just 41 seconds left in the first half. Spence, who hadn't recorded a point in her first 20 career matches, banged a shot off the post, pulling Ronaldi off her line and allowing Townsend to run unobstructed into the box and bury it in for the lead.
"We talked about winning first and second balls all week and with Chelsea's (Gandy-Cromer) header and Kim with the excellent shot, I just kind of got the lucky end of the deal. I was in the right place at the right time," Townsend said.
Auburn's road trip continues on Sunday as it heads to Starkville, Miss., where it will face Mississippi State. Kickoff is set for 1pm.
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