COLUMBIA, Mo. – In a contest between two teams battling for postseason seeding, Auburn (11-3-1, 3-3-1 SEC) picked up a big win on the road by defeating Missouri (5-8-2, 2-4-1 SEC), 1-0, Sunday afternoon at Audrey J. Walton Soccer Stadium.
The win was the 300th of head coach Karen Hoppa's career, making her the 28th coach in the history of the sport to amass 300 wins at the Division I level. She is also just the eighth female head coach to accomplish the feat.
"This win is more important right now because of what it does for the team," Hoppa said. "But to get 300, that's a really big milestone and something that when I was 23 years old starting out as a Division I head coach I never even could've imagined. It's a credit to the incredible coaches and staff I've had the opportunity to work with and all of the players I've coached. I'm really blessed to still be doing this."
Freshman Hailey Whitaker accounted for the scoring in the match with a goal in the 70th minute. It was her second goal of the season and her first career game-winner.
Defensively, Auburn turned in its ninth shutout of the season, including its fourth in conference play, and its second straight. Redshirt senior goalkeeper Sarah Le Beau has no turned in 28 shutouts in her Auburn career. The team's nine shutouts are tied for the fourth most in program history.
"We were in a five-way tie for seventh in the league, and obviously our goal is to get to Orange Beach. This win gets us one step closer. The team was way better in the second half. We asked them to do some things at halftime, and they executed much better."
After the two teams were held off the scoreboard in the first 69 minutes of the contest, Whitaker sprinted down the middle of the field and beat a quartet of Missouri defenders before cutting and finishing with the right foot from just outside the 18-yard box.
"It was a really intense moment, and I knew this game was very important for us to win," Whitaker said. "I had to go at it full force, and I'm glad that it went in for our team. We were going a little slow in the first half, and we knew we had to step it up to win this game. We came out of halftime with high intensity and it showed."
From there, Le Beau and the Auburn defense buckled down to hold the Tigers attack in check. The Crystal Lake, Illinois, native made a diving save in the 86th minute to keep Missouri off the scoreboard and highlight the shutout.
Fifteen Tigers saw action in the match, including seven who played all 90 minutes. Each team fired off 13 shots, including four on frame.
Auburn continues the backend of its SEC schedule by hosting No. 12 Vanderbilt (13-1-1, 6-0-1 SEC) Thursday at 6:30 p.m. CT at the Auburn Soccer Complex.
