The eighth ranked Auburn Tigers fell in South Carolina to the No. 10 Gamecocks Thursday, unable to recover from an early 2-0 lead.
Auburn made strong pushes to take back the match but were unsuccessful, being limited to nine total shots by the Gamecock defense..
“We were really disappointed with the way we played in the first half,” Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa said. “We didn’t come out with the fight and playing the soccer we know how to play. We gave up two counter-attacks on our own mistakes and when you do that at South Carolina, it’s tough to come back from.”
The loss break the Tigers five-match win streak and adjusts their overall record to 11-2-0 and 4-2-0 in SEC play.
A counter-attack on Auburn’s defense gave South Carolina the lead within the first 10 minutes of the match. The Gamecocks struck again in the 18th minute to extend their lead to 2-0.
“I was proud of us in the second half,” Hoppa said. “I thought we battled. Had we played the whole game like that, we might have had a different result. For Sunday, I think we can take with us how hard we pressed them in the second half. We got that one that was called back for offsides. We just have to put together a full 90 minute performance on Sunday.”
The Tigers will return home to the Auburn Soccer Complex Sunday to face No. 17 Texas A&M with a start time set at 2 p.m.
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