'It would mean huge momentum' - No. 11 Auburn soccer seeks 7th straight SEC win

'It would mean huge momentum' - No. 11 Auburn soccer seeks 7th straight SEC win'It would mean huge momentum' - No. 11 Auburn soccer seeks 7th straight SEC win

Oct. 19, 2016

By Jeff Shearer
AuburnTigers.com

AUBURN, Ala. - After scoring a dozen goals in 2015, Auburn's Casie Ramsier knew she would be the focal point of opposing defenses this season.

"Your role changes each year," Ramsier said. "My role is to just take defenders away and open it up for Kristen or Bri or someone else, I'll happily do that. Whatever it takes to get the win."

With opponents keying on Ramsier, Kristen Dodson has emerged, scoring 7 of her team-leading 10 goals during Auburn's six-match winning streak.

"Kristen Dodson has been incredible," Ramsier said. "To see her get on the sheet like she has and to see her hard work pay off, and to see my other teammates be able to put it in the back of the net is awesome and it helps make us more of a dangerous team. Teams can't just defend one or two people. They have to defend all of us because everyone's dangerous. I think it helps us moving forward."

Ramsier is not just a decoy. She scored the game-winning goal in Auburn's win over Arkansas, earning SEC offensive player of the week honors, the fourth straight week a Tiger has earned conference recognition.

"I'm so thankful for it," Ramsier said. "Thankful for my teammates who have been pushing me to be better each week. Seeing your teammates succeed pushes you to play harder and play harder for them. To be able to get that result over Arkansas and to get that award on top of it makes for a good weekend."

Auburn seeks a program-record seventh consecutive SEC win Thursday at LSU at 6 p.m. on the SEC Network.

"We're really trying to keep the team focused on looking forward and not looking back," coach Karen Hoppa said. "Right now, LSU's the most important game on the schedule. Our focus is to prepare for this one the way we've prepared for every game. The other big focus is to get better from game to game. To be successful on Thursday, we've got to be better than we were last Friday against Arkansas."

During the streak, Auburn has outscored opponents 16-5, including 11-2 in the second half. The Tigers have recorded three shutouts in that span, against Florida, Missouri and Mississippi State.

"It's so awesome when we get a shutout," senior defender Kiana Clarke said. "The greatest time was when we beat Florida. When we got that third goal, I remember thinking we just have to finish it out now. Just get the shutout. It's just awesome knowing that we could keep their forwards from scoring. Shutouts are definitely our greatest stat."

Auburn has won six consecutive matches against LSU, including two in Baton Rouge. The Tigers close out the regular season with a road trip Sunday to Texas A&M and a home match next Thursday against Tennessee.

"It would mean huge momentum going into our last two games of the season and postseason," sophomore forward Taylor Troutman said. "I think it would be awesome to make history again, like we've been doing all year and last year."

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @jeff_shearer