Sept. 27, 2013
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COLUMBIA, S.C. - After falling behind 2-0 to No. 20 South Carolina (8-1-1, 1-1-0 SEC), the Auburn women's soccer team battled back in the final minutes of Friday's match to cut the deficit in half, but it wasn't enough as the Tigers (4-5-1, 0-2-0 SEC) dropped their second Southeastern Conference match, 2-1.
Freshman Casie Ramsier scored her fifth goal of the season with two minutes to go in the second half, but it wasn't until well after the Gamecocks had built a 2-0 lead, proving too much for the Tigers.
For Ramsier, she continues to lead the team in the goal category for the year as her score came on a cross attempt from 12 feet out from Samantha Solaru at the two minute mark in the second half. Ramsier attempted the header which went high above the crossbar and then came down out of reach of Gamecock goalkeeper, Sabrina D'Angelo. It was Solaru's first assist of the year.
"South Carolina is a great team," Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa said. "They came out and pressured us and we weren't prepared for it. I was happy with the way our girls clawed their way back into the game. I'm hoping we learned a lot today."
The Gamecocks got their first goal of the match just seven minutes in after Danielle Au scored her fourth goal of the year, getting the assist from Chelsea Drennan. On multiple occasions, Auburn goalkeeper Alicen Wright turned away many South Carolina goal opportunities to keep the score at 1-0 through the first half. Wright finished the match with five total saves, three in the first half.
Auburn didn't get its first good look at the goal in the first half until Kala Faulker found a clear shot from the top of the box with 15 minutes to go in the first period, but South Carolina was there to make the diving save.
Shortly after the second half started, Ramsier nearly rolled in a goal just five minutes in to possibly tie it, but another diving save from D'Angelo kept the score at 1-0. Ramsier found herself just feet away from the goal line and just got enough on her kick as she was being tackled to keep it on point. Unfortunately the South Carolina save kept the score idle.
The Gamecocks tallied their second goal of the night off the leg of Stevi Parker in the 67th minute to push their lead to 2-0. For Parker it was her second goal of the season and proved to be the winning goal for South Carolina.
Auburn continues its road trip on Sunday when it travels to Oxford, Miss., to take on Ole Miss. First kick for the match is scheduled for 2 p.m. Live stats will be available on AuburnTigers.com and fans can listen locally on WEGL 91.1.
For complete coverage of the Auburn women's soccer team, log on to AuburnTigers.com, follow the team on Twitter, @AU_Soccer, or `like' its page on Facebook, AuburnSoccer.