Tigers trek to Morgantown for Brown family feud

Tigers trek to Morgantown for Brown family feud

Tigers trek to Morgantown for Brown family feudTigers trek to Morgantown for Brown family feud
Grayson Belanger/AU Athletics

AUBURN Ala. — Another tough road test awaits Auburn soccer as the Tigers head to West Virginia for a 6 p.m. CT matchup Thursday, Sept. 7 at Dick Dlesk Stadium. It's homecoming week for senior Sammie Brown as the Mountaineers are led by her mother, head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown.
 
"West Virginia is always tough," head coach Karen Hoppa said. "As long as Nikki (Izzo-Brown) has been there, they've never had a losing season. We expect them to come out and play their best soccer versus us Thursday night. We're going to get the best version of them. They're hungry for a win, which makes them dangerous."
 
Auburn makes the return trip to WVU after the Mountaineers came to The Plains for a match last season. Neither team walked out on top as the game ended in a scoreless tie. This year, the Tigers return 7 of 11 starters from the match and 12 total players who saw a combined 671 minutes. All of the women responsible for Auburn's 13 shots last year are back this week. Defensively, the Orange & Blue backline that held the Mountaineers without a shot on-goal will have two of its four starters back as well as goalkeeper Maddie Prohaska.
 
This season, West Virginia is 2-1 at home and 2-4 overall. Three of the Mountaineers' four losses have come against ranked opponents. Last week, they fell 2-1 at No. 12 Virginia and 3-1 at Liberty. Taylor White leads the attack with three goals and an assist and Kayza Massey calls the defense as the starting goalkeeper with 17 saves and a 1.64 goals against average.
 
Auburn enters the match at 4-1-1 following a 2-0 loss to Wake Forest and a 3-0 win against American. Depth was a friend to the Tigers in the win as four of the five players to record a goal or an assist came off the bench. Freshman Olivia Woodson scored in minutes 38 and 75 to notch the first goals and game-winner of her career. Redshirt-freshman Dylan Driver also netted the first goal of her tenure in the 44th minute. The Tigers have now found offensive production from five first-time scorers this season.
 
Thursday's match will be available to stream on ESPN+. Radio coverage will also be available via U92 The Moose.