AUBURN, Ala. — Auburn soccer (8-0-1) struck for a pair of first-half goals, but it was not enough to secure a victory as the No. 6 Tigers surrendered their first two scores of the season to draw Vanderbilt (5-0-3) at 2-2 Thursday night at the Auburn Soccer Complex.
“We’ve got to be better,” Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa said. “We got away from doing the things that make us great, playing through each other and being aggressive. We’ll learn and grow from this and come out stronger next time.”
Vanderbilt’s Rachel Deresky broke Auburn’s streak of nearly 750 minutes without allowing a goal with her fifth score of the season in the 20th minute. Auburn responded with two of its own from Dylan Driver and Sydnie Thibodaux later in the half to ride a 2-1 edge into the break. The Commodores’ Abi Brighton played spoiler with a 79th-minute equalizer to end the match with both squads deadlocked.
Per SEC rules, both teams leave the match earning one point toward the league standings.
Auburn and Vanderbilt combined for 31 shots in the match, but only 10 found the face of goal. The Tigers found four chances from senior Anna Haddock, three from senior Becky Contreras and two from senior Sydnie Thibodaux and sophomore Jordyn Crosby.
Auburn found 12 of its 15 opportunities in the first half as they outshot the Commodores 12-6, however, Vanderbilt flipped the table in the second 45 and outshot the Tigers 10-3.
Vanderbilt only mustered two attacking corners. Auburn forced eight.
Driver’s response came less than 10 minutes after Auburn’s first concession of the year. Senior Mallory Mooney picked up her fourth assist of the season with a nice run to the endline followed by a cut back to Driver who put the ball away with a header on the near post.
Thibodaux gave the Tigers their first lead of the match in the penultimate minute of the first half as she found space inside the penalty arc to rip off a top-shelf shot that bounced off the crossbar and the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
It was Thibodaux’s third goal of the season.
“I knew I had to hit that one first time after my shot before that was blocked,” Thibodaux said. “It was nice to score, but we know there’s a lot we can work on. We’ve got to start faster moving forward. Our level dropped at the start of the game, so if we can come out on Sunday and play fast out of the gate, we’ll be in better shape.”
Up next, Auburn hosts Florida for another tough intraconference matchup Sunday, Sept. 22, at 2 p.m. CT. Fans in attendance will receive Auburn soccer trucker hats while supplies last.