Aug. 29, 2014
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Auburn, Ala. - Auburn's home opener could not have gone any smoother as the Tigers secured a 3-0 victory against UC-Irvine in the second match of the Tiger Classic.
Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa was pleased with the team's all-around performance in the match.
"The great thing about this team is they give us everything they have," Hoppa said. "They work as hard as they can at practice and during games. I think that was sort of a big factor in today's game with how hard we worked. The good thing is they did everything we asked."
The Tigers opened the scoring just seven minutes into the second half as Ellie Leek played a corner that found Chelsea Gandy-Cromer, who slotted it home for her first goal of the season.
Auburn would double their lead 10 minutes later as Kristen Dodson played a through-ball to Leek, who hit a powerful shot into the top shelf of the goal.
The goal would be Leek's first goal of her career.
Sophomore Casie Ramsier would add a third goal for the Tigers in the 80th minute off of a free kick played in by Haley Gerken.
"It was nice to get a little bit of a monkey off my back because I have not felt as good in the first few games," Ramsier said. "It was nice to finally get that one."
The defense also played a pivotal role in the Tiger's 3-0 victory against the Anteaters, only allowing one shot in the match.
"Our defense was so good in this match," Hoppa said. "We were much more organized defensively and we were forcing them to go long and then winning the ball and being able to attack again."
The Tigers will face the Georgia Southern Eagles, who defeated the Indiana Hoosiers 2-1 in their first match of the tournament, on Sunday at 2:30 on SEC Network Plus to conclude play in the Tiger Classic.
For more information on Auburn soccer, visit AuburnTigers.com, follow the team on Twitter, @AuburnSoccer or follow them on Facebook at Facebook.com/AuburnSoccer.