GAINESVILLE, Fla. — It was a valiant effort, but Auburn soccer could not find the offensive momentum it needed to overcome a 45th-minute score from Florida as it fell 1-0 Thursday evening at Donald R. Dizney Soccer Stadium.
"We are certainly disappointed to come away with no points tonight, but that's on us," Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa said. "We have to be better in the final third to be successful down the stretch."
It was shaping up to be a scoreless first half in Gainesville, but after a late free kick was awarded to the Gators with 11 seconds remaining, a window opened and UF's Lena Bailey capitalized on it. Following the service on the set piece, the ball was punched away by Auburn's Maddie Prohaska, but with lots of numbers in the box, no defender was able to clear the attempt and Bailey struck it between the wickets of a teammate and into the back of the net.
Auburn put up three shots in the first half courtesy of freshman Jessica Osborne and seniors Maddie Simpson and Mallory Mooney. Following a corner taken by senior Anna Haddock, redshirt freshman Dylan Driver played the deflection out to Mooney 10 yards from the face of the box. Mooney ripped off a right-footed strike targeted at left post; however, the Gators' Alexa Goldberg made a diving attempt to keep the Tigers off the board.
Another dangerous Auburn opportunity came with just four minutes left on the clock as Haddock played a slant over to junior Carly Thatcher near the arc. Thatcher took two touches and ripped a missle on the far upper 90, but Goldberg was able to tip it over the crossbar at the last second.
Overall, Auburn created seven chances and placed three on frame. The Tigers also forced five attacking corner kicks, their largest total in nine matches. Auburn's corners were created by Thatcher, Hayden Colson, Olivia Candelino, Sydney Richards and Sammie Brown.
Prohaska made saves on three of four shots faced. She has 245 in her Orange & Blue career.
Next, Auburn returns to The Plains for its final home match of the season, facing off against LSU Sunday, Oct. 22 at 4 p.m. CT. The match will be Senior Night as the Tigers are set to honor this year's outgoing players. Ian Carry and Alex Perlman have the call on the SEC Network.
