Oct. 10, 2014
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AUBURN, Ala. - After a scoreless first half from both sides, the Auburn soccer team went on to score three goals and fend off a flurry of goals from Missouri in the second half to defeat the 25th-ranked Tigers, 3-2, for its first conference victory of the season.
The win is not only Auburn's first Southeastern Conference victory of the season, but it is also the program's first win over a ranked opponent since taking down No. 12 Texas A&M in the 2012 season.
With the victory, Auburn moves back into the thick of the SEC standings as its record ups to 7-4-3 overall and 1-2-3 in conference play. Missouri drops to 9-3-2 and 4-2-0 in the SEC.
"It was a great team effort tonight," Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa said. "It was a fantastic game and I thought we played a great first half. We were really unlucky to not have a goal or two in the first half. Second half, Missouri came out flying. They gave us a ton of pressure, but we got a goal against the run of play. I love how our girls responded. We obviously got enough to win the game and did a good job closing it out."
Auburn and Missouri played each other to a scoreless draw in the first period, but Auburn really controlled the possession, winning the shots, 8-4. Auburn's defense played strong as well holding Missouri to only one shot on goal, giving Alyse Scott the save.
Second half was a different story for both teams. Auburn lit up the scoreboard for the first time in the match, scoring in the 51st minute off the boot of freshman Kristen Dodson. After fellow freshman Ellie Leek beat the defense off the dribble and got the end line off Missouri's goal, she sent a nice cross back into the box perfectly for Dodson to finish into the left side of the net for her third goal of the season.
Just over 10 minutes later, Auburn doubled its advantage as senior Tori Ball received a pass from Kiana Clarke from the Auburn side of midfield and then flicked it from 40 yards out over the keepers head and in. A crazy goal that Missouri goalkeeper McKenzie Sauerwein came too far up on allowed the ball to fly over her head and into the net and gave Auburn a 2-0 lead 62 minutes in.
After Ball's goal, it was as if the goal switch was turned on for both sides as both Missouri and Auburn scored three more goals in a span of four minutes. First, Missouri scored in the 63rd minute off a Reagan Russell boot, her sixth of the year.
That was followed by a Brooke Ramsier free kick for Auburn from 25 yards out that pierced through the Missouri wall and into the left side of the net in the 64th minute. For Ramsier, it was her third of the season and gave Auburn a 3-1 lead, seemingly putting the match out of reach.
But Missouri came back just two minutes later in the 66th minute. Savannah Trujillo netted her third goal of the season off a Russell assist to make it a 3-2 game with under 30 minutes to play.
"I've hardly seen anything like it," Hoppa said. "Obviously, we're not pleased with our response after scoring and then giving up a goal right away, but we had the wherewithal to come right back down and score. It's great credit to our girls and their mentality. They really fought this one out."
Auburn's defense played tall for the remainder of the match, slowing the match down considerably and keeping the ball out of Missouri's attacking zone.
Auburn finished with 14 shots in the match, just two more than Missouri. Alyse Scott finished with four saves and scored her seventh win in the net as well.
The Orange and Blue will go on the road for its next match, visiting No. 10 Texas A&M in College Station, Texas next Friday at 7 p.m. That match will be followed on Sunday with another crucial conference match with Arkansas at 1 p.m. Both matches can be seen on SEC Network+.
"We needed a conference win tonight," Hoppa said. "We had three ties and to get three points in a weekend when we only had one game was huge. Tonight was our first real signature victory against a nationally-ranked team."
For more information on Auburn soccer, visit AuburnTigers.com, follow the team on Twitter, @AuburnSoccer or follow them on Facebook at Facebook.com/AuburnSoccer.