TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Auburn soccer held its own, trading blows in a hostile environment at No. 19 Alabama, and even fought from behind to level the score at halftime, but the Tigers were unable to overcome a late, 86th-minute Crimson Tide goal and fell 2-1 Thursday at the Alabama Soccer Stadium.
Auburn falls to 5-5-3 on the year and 1-3-1 in conference play.
"Another heartbreaking loss for this group," Tigers head coach Karen Hoppa said. "We've got to compete and give our all for the full 90 minutes because we are capable of beating these teams. Overall, we played great. We just made a defensive error in the final five minutes and Alabama is too good of a team to not take advantage of that."
Redshirt-freshman Dylan Driver found the back of the net in the 38th minute of her first career Iron Bowl match. The goal was Driver's second of the season.
Auburn created one corner kick courtesy of fifth year Sydney Richards, and ripped off six shots, three of which were placed on frame. Driver, junior Sydnie Thibodaux and redshirt-senior Becky Contreras accounted for the Orange & Blue's quality chances.
Contreras and sophomore Erin Houston each earned big minutes. Houston played a career-high 84 and Contreras saw 30, her most since transferring to The Plains. Goalkeeper Maddie Prohaska saved eight of 11 shots faced. Following the season-high eight stops, Prohaska jumps to 40 this season and 332 for her career.
Alabama struck first, opening the match with a 9th-minute goal from Nadia Ramadan. Auburn settled in and found the equalizer from Driver as the first half came to a close. Redshirt-senior Marissa Arias initiated the scoring play, slanting a ball in from midfield to Contreras. Under pressure, Contreras made a sliding pass to an incoming Maddie Simpson who attempted a shot that was blocked. The ball was deflected back to Contreras just inside the 18. She rifled one low center, but it was stuffed by Alabama's Dylan Pixton. The deflection got tangled up in traffic and took a fortunate bounce that landed at the boot of Driver who issued a right-footed strike to tuck the ball inside near post.
Auburn matched its in-state rival for 42 straight minutes out of the break, but the Crimson Tide snuck one in, courtesy of Felicia Knox, with three minutes left on the game clock to steal the win.
Up next, Auburn is back home Sunday, Oct. 8 to host No. 6 Arkansas. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. CT on the SEC Network. The first 250 fans to arrive at the match will receive an Auburn bucket hat.