AUBURN, AL (EETV)- On Sunday, Auburn Soccer shut out the Ole Miss Rebels, keeping them ranked in the top 25. With a final score of 3-0, it is safe to say that the Tiger offense has found their rhythm once again with their 10th sweep of the season.
Coming off of their first loss of the season, Coach Karen Hoppa stated that the team needed to handle adversity better, and Sunday's game proved that the Tigers could bounce back to still be a contender in this conference. With 19 total shot attempts, it is hard to ignore the athleticism of the Tigers' offense. Coach Hoppa gave the team credit for creating those 'dangerous' opportunities.
The first 45 minutes of the game consisted of a long scoring drought, but the Tigers were able to keep up the pace with an aggressive defense that only allowed three shot attempts from the persistent Ole Miss offense. In the goal, Maddie Prohaska breaks the Auburn shutout record with a total of 34 in her career. Prohaska has been a consistent powerhouse that has led the Auburn defense to their impressive 10-1-1 record. Another aspect of this Auburn defense is their ability to quickly win the ball from their opposition's offense and counterattack to produce points.
In Auburn's impressive third goal, Becky Contreras steals and sweeps towards the goal with an out-of-the-box shot to put the Tigers up 3-0. The first two goals from Auburn came from Anna Haddock, her fourth of the season, and Olivia Woodson, her seventh of the season. This tactical trio put up all three goals in the second half of the game. This marks the first time the Tiger offense has struck three goals in one half of a conference game since a match against Alabama in 2017. Haddock stated that they cannot "find success if [they] stay focused on the past," and this team was able to learn from the Thursday loss to Texas A&M to find success here on Sunday.
This orange and blue team not only looked good on the field, but also on paper by putting up some impressive stats. With Auburn's 19 shots compared to Ole Miss's three and nine corner kicks to their two, it is no surprise that the Tigers came out on top. This team also played a very clean game with only seven total fouls to the Rebels' 15.
The Tigers return to the field on Oct. 4 at 7:00 PM CDT for a Tiger showdown against LSU at Baton Rouge.
