Sept. 4, 2015
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AUBURN, Ala. - The 11th-ranked Auburn soccer team continued its winning streak Friday night defeating Samford, 2-0, at the AU Soccer Complex, moving to 5-0-0 on the year, its best start since 2004. Along with its winning streak, the Auburn defense put up yet another shutout, limiting Samford to just six shots with two coming on target.
The five shutouts continues to be the quickest Auburn has ever gotten five shutouts in a season and is already halfway to the full season total of shutouts last year (10).
Sarah Le Beau locked up her fifth win in a row, only having to make two saves on the night, giving her 13 for the season. Le Beau continues to set new records as she is believed to be the first Auburn player to ever have five shutouts in her first five collegiate starts.
Auburn and Samford battled hard through nearly the entire first half, as both teams were seeing multiple opportunities go by the way side. Auburn won the shot battle in the first half, 9-2, but three were only on target.
However, in the final minute of the first period, Auburn got a look and a little bit of luck. With Charlotte Van Ishoven looking to cross into the box from the left side, she found junior Casie Ramsier crashing hard. Ramsier one-timed the ball at the keeper, who saved it, but couldn't corral it. That allowed sophomore Kristen Dodson to pick up the pieces and score her first goal of the 2015 season.
Dodson, who has slowly returned to action after an injury suffered at the end of last year, was finally back on the field making things happen. Dodson finished the night with 48 minutes played and two shots.
Auburn took that momentum into halftime and continued the pressure in the second-half. It didn't have to wait long to double its lead as senior Logan Beal put home her first goal of the year in the 50th minute.
As the Tigers got on a nice counter attack at midfield, junior Kiana Clarke found sophomore Ellie Leek with space up the left side. Leek made a nice touch and a low cross into the near side of the box, which found Beal 10 yards out for the score.
Beal played a solid 56 minutes Friday night starting on the front line against Samford. The Dallas, Texas-native notched three shots, all on goal.
As for Leek, she has grown into the "goal maker" for Auburn. Now with three points on the year, Leek has had the assist in three of Auburn's last four goals going back to the Furman match last Sunday (8/30/15).
Auburn continued the same blitzkrieg of shots Friday that we have grown accustomed to seeing in the last couple of matches. As a team, the Tigers logged 20 shots in total with eight being on target. Sophomore Courtney Schell finished the game with the most shots (4), but Beal and Casie Ramsier were the only ones to put multiple shots on target.
Post-game Quotes from head coach Karen Hoppa and selected players:
"It was a great performance for our team tonight. Credit to Samford, they are an unbelievable team. They're going to win a lot of games and have two players that can play with anyone in the country. I'm really proud of our total team effort today. I thought our midfield was unbelievable today with the amount of work they put in. With Samford playing a five-player midfield, we knew we weren't going to get the ball a lot, but they got the job done." - Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa
"Kristen's (Dodson) done such a good job to come back at a high level. She just got cleared a couple weeks ago to start practicing, but she's been getting better every day. She gives us so much spark up top. I'm just thrilled that she was able to get on the end of that. It was great by Casie (Ramsier) to get on frame and force the keeper to make a save." - Karen Hoppa
"Kala (Faulkner) and Kiana (Clarke) were phenomenal tonight. For Kiana to tough it out after getting cleated in the shin, she stayed in and stayed fast. They both covered each other and tackled well." - Karen Hoppa
"Sophie is born ready. She's someone who's always ready to go whether she plays 90 minutes or two minutes. She plays hard and brings so much experience. She gives us great leadership on the back line and I was really proud of her effort today." - Karen Hoppa
"To be honest, I thought Casie was going to score that goal. It's very rare that Casie misses in front of the goal like that. I didn't expect it to pop out like that, but once it did, I just wanted to put it away so we could go into the half up 1-0." - Auburn sophomore Kristen Dodson
"I'm very proud of our team. Everyone is putting their all in. There isn't one person on this team that doesn't care what we're doing. If you aren't starting, it's about going in and doing what you can. If you are starting, you're trying to put in the effort for the people that are on the bench. Everyone just cares for each other." - Kristen Dodson
Turning Point
With the match still scoreless in the final minute of the first half, Auburn got one last look at goal after freshman Charlotte Van Ishoven crossed in a ball into the middle of the box. Casie Ramsier got a shot off from eight yards out, but a save by Samford's keeper kept the ball out. However, the keeper couldn't hold on to the ball and the rebound came right back to Kristen Dodson, who was crashing the box on the right side. Even with a bump from the defender, Dodson finished the rebound where the keeper couldn't make a play, giving Auburn the big 1-0 lead at the half.
Up Next
| Match 6: vs. Old Dominion | |
| Sunday, Sept. 6 | 2 p.m. - #11 Auburn vs. Old Dominion | | SEC Network+ |
| Locations | Auburn, Ala. | AU Soccer Complex (1,500) |
| Tickets | Free Admission |
| Additional Info | Auburn Notes  | Old Dominion Notes | SEC Notes |
| Online | Twitter: @AuburnSoccer | WEGL 91.1 FM and AuburnTigers.com | SEC Network+ |
Auburn is back on Sunday to face Old Dominion at 2 p.m. at the Auburn Soccer Complex to finish out the four-match home stand. Auburn will try to stay undefeated and close the weekend with possibly its sixth-consecutive shutout. The match will be broadcast live on SEC Network+, which is available via WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app. Live stats will also be provided on AuburnTigers.com.
Fans can also listen to Sunday's match on WEGL 91.1 FM locally in Auburn or on AuburnTigers.com for free.
For more information on Auburn soccer, visit AuburnTigers.com, follow the team on Twitter, @AuburnSoccer or follow them on Facebook at Facebook.com/AuburnSoccer.