AUBURN, Ala. — Auburn soccer officially begins its James Armstrong Era this weekend as it hosts Louisville and Samford on Thursday, Aug. 14 and Sunday, Aug. 17, respectively, to launch the 2025 season.
“This week is certainly exciting,” Armstrong said. “We’ve done all we can through our training sessions, meetings and scouting to be as prepared as we can. It’s an exciting time to be the first Auburn team to represent our awesome university and wear the Nike brand. With that comes the responsibility to put together a performance that everybody can be proud of.”
Kick off versus the Cardinals is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on SECN+. Brit Bowen and Nick Flohre have the call. Sunday’s match kicks off at 6 p.m. CT on SECN+. Nick Flohre returns to call with Lyn Rollins. Radio coverage for both matches may be found at WEGL 91.1.
AUBURN NOTABLES
The Tigers are 23-4-5 all-time in home openers and have not lost their first home match of the season since 2016, when they fell to No. 14 Clemson 2-0.
Auburn returns its leading goal-scorer from the 2024 season in Olivia Woodson. Her 25 points off 11 goals and three assists topped the team a year ago. Other than Woodson, Auburn retains just six players who saw minutes last fall. Senior holding midfielder Hayden Colson is the Tigers’ leading minutes returner after playing 1,666 last season.
The Auburn roster features 15 new players with the addition of six freshmen and nine transfers. Part of the transfer class included center back Taylor Chism (NC State) and attacking midfielder Grace Ivey (Texas A&M), both of whom joined Colson and Woodson on the SEC Preseason Watch List.
Chism, Colson, Dylan Driver, Erin Flurey and Asha Means were named the squad’s captains for the 2025 season.
SCOUTING LOUISVILLE
Led by 26th-year head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes, Louisville returns most of its heavy hitters from a 7-6-5 season a year ago. In 2024, Louisville earned significant results against No. 13 Notre Dame (T, 0-0), No. 25 California (W, 2-1), and on the road at Clemson (T, 0-0). Its losses came versus Dayton (1-0), at Pitt (3-1), at Virginia Tech (5-1), at No. 3 North Carolina (5-0), at No. 2 Duke (3-1) and versus No. 6 Stanford (1-0).
This season, the Cardinals retain 10 of 11 starters from their final match of 2024, as well as nine players who started at least 10 matches. Louisville’s top two goal-scorers, Mackenzie Geigle (7 goals) and Karsyn Cherry (6 goals), are both back, leading to a 64% return rate in offensive production.
In net, the Cardinals maintain both keepers used last season in Erynn Floyd and Kailey Kimball. The duo combined for a 1.28 goals-against average with seven shutouts and 57 saves. Floyd boasted the better numbers but only appeared in 14 contests due to injury.
Auburn and Louisville have met just once prior, during the 2020-21 season. The Tigers trekked to Louisville and squeaked out a double-overtime victory thanks to a 107th-minute penalty kick goal from Sarah Houchin. In the match, Auburn outshot the Cardinals 13(7) to 6(2) and generated six attacking corner kicks to UL’s zero.
SCOUTING SAMFORD
Samford is led by another long-tenured head coach as Todd Yelton is set to lead the Bulldogs in his 24th season at the helm. Last season, Yelton’s squad went 12-7-3 en route to capturing its sixth SoCon Championship, and third in the previous five years.
Offensively, Samford returns 41% of its output, led by Sam DeLuca, who registered 12 points on five goals and two assists. The Bulldogs also return their starting goalkeeper, Peyton Hull, who tallied a 1.81 goals-against average with a 70.5% save percentage, 74 saves and four solo shutouts.
Auburn boasts a 13-3-4 record against Samford all-time and is 6-2-2 when meeting on The Plains. The previous two meetings in Auburn have resulted in a 0-2 loss for the Tigers and a 0-0 draw, with the former result being the Bulldogs’ infamous upset of Auburn during the opening round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Last season, the Tigers bested Samford in Birmingham, winning 5-0 while ripping off an impressive 28 shots. Both Woodson and Shelby Sallee recorded braces in the match.
PROMOTIONS
Thursday is Nike Night at the Auburn Soccer Complex. All fans in attendance will receive access to enter a raffle for a custom pair of Auburn Air Force 1s. Members of the Upper 90 Club will receive two raffle entries.
Sunday is Youth Soccer Night. Auburn will celebrate the next generation of soccer players with anthem buddies, postgame photos and autographs as well as interactive in-venue content.
All matches at the Auburn Soccer Complex are free and open to the public.