ATHENS, Ga. – Auburn exploded for its most goals against a Power Five opponent since 2017 as the Tigers defeated Maryland, 4-0, in the opening match of the Bulldog Classic Friday afternoon at the Turner Soccer Complex.
Junior captain Sarah Houchin scored her first career goal and ultimately recorded a brace to lead the attack. Fellow captain Jessie Gerow started the scoring in the contest, while Bri Folds capped it off with a penalty kick in the second half. Freshman defender Riley Petcosky recorded her first career points with a pair of assists.
"I was really happy with our overall performance, and especially in the first half," head coach Karen Hoppa said. "We were relentless in that first half, we kept the pressure up. I was very pleased with how we responded to scoring the goal. In the past, we've relaxed. This time, we amped up the pressure and got a second one minutes later."
The team's four goals were the most in a match versus a Power Five opponent since beating Alabama, 4-2, in the Iron Bowl of Soccer on Oct. 10, 2017.
"Overall it was a really good performance against a really good Maryland team," Hoppa added.
Auburn was the aggressor from the start as the Tigers fired off five shots in the early stages before getting on the scoreboard in the 24th minute. Petcosky saved a clearance from Maryland 30 yards from the goal and played it into the box to the right foot of Gerow, who finished near side past the goalkeeper.
Minutes later, Petcosky served up a corner and Houchin found herself in space behind Maryland's back line before finishing into the upper 90 for her first career goal. It was Petcosky's second assist of the contest and the Tigers second goal on a set piece this season.
"It's really exciting because as a center back I don't get to come up that often," Houchin said. "So when I get to come up on corners, it's a big opportunity for me to get in there and make a difference."
With 16 seconds remaining in the first half, Auburn drew a foul inside the box and was awarded a penalty kick. Houchin came up from her center back position and stepped up to bury it into the back of the net and cap off the first 45 minutes of action. It marked the first time Auburn scored three goals in a half since also scoring three goals in the second half vs. Alabama State on Sept. 16 of last season.
The Tigers picked up where they left off as Maryland committed a second foul inside the box four minutes into the second half. Like Houchin at the end of the first half, Folds stepped up and put a strike past the goalkeeper to extend the lead to four and cap off the scoring in the contest.
"As a goalkeeper, that's part of the game," Hart said of staying focused with a big lead. "You're not always going to be getting action all 90 minutes, but it only takes on shot for the other team to get a goal, so you have to be engaged all 90 minutes. That's one of the keys to being a good goalkeeper."
The shutout against Maryland was the first of Hart's Auburn career and the first for the Tigers since Coach Hoppa's 300th career win at Missouri on Oct. 14 of last season.
Eighteen Tigers ultimately saw action in the contest with everyone playing 18 or more minutes. Sophomores M.E. Craven and Abby Jacobs saw their first action of the season, while redshirt freshman Audrey Poorman made her Auburn debut.
"We want to build on this," Hoppa added. "We started out great in the first half and we want to build on that. We still need to be tidier on defense and especially in our transition. So there are some areas we certainly can be better and have to be better on Sunday."
Auburn concludes the Bulldog Classic against Virginia Tech (2-0-0) Sunday at 1:30 p.m. CT at the Turner Soccer Complex.