MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Thanks to a 66th minute goal from junior Carly Thatcher, Auburn soccer rallied from behind to tie West Virginia 1-1 Thursday at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium. It was the first goal of the season for Thatcher.
"I thought it was a great performance by our team," Tigers head coach Karen Hoppa said. "We played really well. We created a ton of opportunities. We were unlucky to not get a second one, but overall, I'm really pleased with how we played against the reigning BIG 12 Tournament champions."
Statistically, the Tigers got to double-digit shots for the seventh consecutive match this season, ripping off 11 and placing five on-frame. The Mountaineers created seven chances and stuck five on-goal. Auburn also created six corner kicks while WVU could only muster three.
Both starting goalkeepers surrendered one goal and collected four saves. It was the second-most saves this season from Prohaska. She now has 207 in her career.
Auburn dominated the first half, outshooting West Virginia 6-1. The Tigers most dangerous chance came in the 27th minute from freshman Olivia Woodson. Woodson caught the Mountaineers defense by surprise by ripping off a bending ball from the right endline that spun on dead center, just below the crossbar, but it was tipped away at the last second by Kayza Massey.
Coming out of the break, WVU struck first. In the 52nd minute, Taylor White capitalized on some traffic in the box to put one past Auburn's defense.
Less than 14 minutes later, Thatcher evened the score. Hometown hero Sammie Brown initiated the scoring play. Brown made a run out wide and found a slant pass back to fifth year Sydney Richards on the top right corner of the box. Richards ripped off shot that deflected off the low end of right post and trickled to the right foot of Thatcher for the one-touch tap-in.
Richards picked up assist No. 2 of the season on the play.
"It was really exciting to break through and put us right back in it," Thatcher said. "I think we've learned a lot in this match that we are going to use as positive momentum moving forward."
Up next, Auburn continues its road stand at Ohio State Sunday, Sept. 10. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CT. The match will be available to stream on B1G+.
