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A spirit that is not afraid

Soccer victorious in toughest matchup of the season thus far

<p>Ashton Brock (10) sprints towards the ball during the Tigers match against Furman University at the Auburn Soccer Complex on Sunday, Aug. 30.</p>

Ashton Brock (10) sprints towards the ball during the Tigers match against Furman University at the Auburn Soccer Complex on Sunday, Aug. 30.

Three days after climbing to the No.11 spot in national rankings, Auburn Soccer faced their toughest matchup of the season thus far. The Tigers were victorious, with a score of 2-0, Friday night against a challenging Samford Bulldog soccer team, keeping their undefeated record in tact.

The past two games played against Samford ended in a loss for the Tigers. Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa knew the adversity the Tigers were facing coming into the match, and how badly they wanted to win.

"They wanted this one really bad. Samford's probably the best team we've faced so far," Hoppa said. "Their two attacking players 10 (Jermaine Seoposenwe) and 8 (Malcanisha Kelley) are SEC starters. They're really really good and really dangerous."

The in-state rivals held each other for nearly the entire first half until sophomore Kristen Dodson lit up the scoreboard for the Tigers with 14 seconds left on the clock. It was the forward’s first goal of 2015.

"We were prepared, we worked on our defending and talked a lot about being more efficient with our finishing percentage - that's still got to be better," Hoppa said.

Auburn had a total of 20 shots in the match, continuing to cultivate an offense full of opportunity. Senior Logan Beal capitalized in the 50th minute scoring the second and final goal of the match for the Tigers.

"We're obviously creating a lot of chances," Hoppa said. "But I thought our team was really prepared, and we were ready. We had a great performance tonight against a quality opponent."

Redshirt Freshman Sarah La Beau had another eventful night with two saves on shots from Samford forward Ella Baggett.

"They're a good team," Hoppa said. "The biggest challenge will be how much energy we spent tonight. Hopefully Sunday we can focus on soccer and less on running."

Auburn will face Old Dominion Sunday at 2 p.m. in their final match of their home game stretch at the Auburn Soccer Complex before hitting the road again.


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