Nov. 1, 2016 Photo Gallery ORANGE BEACH, Ala. - The second-seeded Auburn soccer team has made the drive down to the Gulf Coast in search of its second SEC Tournament title overall and first since 2011.
"It's really exciting," said freshman Avery Batson. "It's nice to be done with the [regular] season and to still keep playing.
"I think with the excitement of being here, staying in really nice condos and all that kind of stuff, we also want to focus on soccer. So far it's been really good and I'm really excited to play tomorrow."
Auburn opens up the quarterfinals of the annual postseason tournament by playing Tennessee at 12 p.m. on Wednesday.
The Tigers laced up their boots and held their first training session on Tuesday at the practice field just outside of the pitch they'll be the first to step on tomorrow.
"It's an exciting time to be together with the team," stated senior Haley Gerken. "We make team breakfast every morning and we get to hang out with each other all day. It just brings a strong team chemistry going into the tournament. We plan on staying here the whole week."
As the calendar turns another page, Nov. 1 marks a special day for the leader of the program. Head coach Karen Hoppa celebrated her birthday with the team, which surprised her early on Tuesday morning in song and fellowship.
"[Coach] had no idea we were surprising her. We put some balloons up and some signs, then we sang her 'Happy Birthday.' One of our teammates made some pancakes that were in the shape of Mickey Mouse to give to her. We had a really good morning for her birthday."
