STARKVILLE, Miss. — Auburn soccer dropped its SEC opener to Friday night at MSU Soccer Field, falling 1-0 to Mississippi State on an 89th minute breakaway.
"Really proud of our team's effort tonight," Tigers head coach Karen Hoppa said. "This is just a punishing league. We played great and battled hard. We had two starters down and had freshmen step up and play well. I'm proud of the fight they all showed. Obviously, State made a great play at the end to hand us the heartbreaking loss, but we've got a lot we can take away from this to make us better as we get deeper into SEC play."
The Tigers appeared to take a 1-0 lead in the 74th minute as freshman Olivia Woodson ripped off a laser from the top left edge of the 18 that deflected off the head of a Bulldogs defender and looked to cross the goal line, however a quick clearance from MSU resulted in a no-goal call on the field.
What a chance created by @oliviawoodson_ 💥#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/MWtKRCgRXw
— Auburn Soccer (@AuburnSoccer) September 16, 2023
Mississippi State grabbed a late goal on a breakaway from Aitana Martinez-Montoya. Martinez-Montoya found the feet of an incoming Haley McWhirter to steal the last-minute win.
Offensively, the Tigers ripped off five shots and placed four on goal. Auburn also created a pair of corner kicks courtesy of seniors Maddie Simpson and Mallory Mooney.
Defensively, it was the Maddie Prohaska show as the senior made a season-high seven saves, her most since stuffing eight versus Tennessee on Oct. 20, 2022. She now has 25 this season and 217 in her career.
Also of note, freshmen Jessica Osborne and Maquena O'Callaghan earned their first career starts. Osborne went 84 minutes on the back line and O'Callaghan went 42 in the midfield.
Up next, Auburn returns home and welcomes Missouri to The Plains for the Battle of the Tigers Thursday, Sept. 21 at 6:30 p.m. CT.