Oct. 5, 2014
| |||||||||||||||||||
AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn University soccer team went to overtime again on Sunday with the Tennessee Volunteers, the team's fourth overtime match in five conference games. Unfortunately, no goals were scored from either side on Sunday ending the match in a 0-0 tie.
With the tie, the Tigers earn their third conference point of the season, their third in four matches. However, the team is still searching for its first conference victory now halfway through the Southeastern Conference season.
The tie changes Auburn's overall record to 6-4-3 and 0-2-3 in conference play, while Tennessee goes to 6-6-1 overall and 1-3-1 in the SEC. Sunday's tie is Auburn's third-straight with the Volunteers as last year's match ended in a 1-1 tie.
"It was frustrating today," Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa said. "We had plenty of chances and should've put one or two away. At the same time, I thought Tennessee made some great defensive plays as well. I was pleased with our defense as well. They're playing great and Tennessee is a really good offensive team. They have some super dangerous attacking players. I thought offensively, our effort was tremendous. I thought we played better today, on the whole, than we did in the last couple of games and we're happy about that as well."
14 shots were aimed at the goal from Tennessee, but only two actually found the target. Redshirt sophomore Alyse Scott turned both of those away, one coming in the second overtime period, en route to her recording her sixth shutout of the season.
On the flip side, Auburn won the shot category with 18 total in the match, six being on goal. Freshman Ellie Leek finished the game with six shots to lead the team, two finding the goal, while Courtney Schell had three shots, two of which also found the net.
Auburn's best opportunities to score came late in the match, but the best was in the 79th minute, when sophomore Casie Ramsier intercepted a Tennessee pass in the Auburn attacking zone and was able to find Alex Massey right in line with the back line.
A crisp pass fell in front of Massey, who had only the goalkeeper to beat. A quick flick to the right looked to have the keeper fooled, but a diving save kept the game scoreless as it went into overtime.
Earlier in the match, at the start of the second half, Auburn came out with speed and got the first three shots of the period in rapid fashion. After a nice cross in from Chelsea Gandy-Cromer right on the end line, Leek lined up a shot that would have been a goal, but it bounced off the left post and came back into the box.
Two rebounds later, Auburn had two more looks, but couldn't get either to deliver as the match stayed at zeroes.
The Tigers will play only one match next week as Missouri will come to town on Friday at 7 p.m. The match will be played at the AU Soccer Complex and will be televised online on SEC Network+. Fans can also hear the game on local radio on WEGL 91.1 FM.
For more information on Auburn soccer, visit AuburnTigers.com, follow the team on Twitter, @AuburnSoccer or follow them on Facebook at Facebook.com/AuburnSoccer.