Success continued for the Auburn soccer team on Sunday as the Tigers notched their fifth-consecutive win, defeating Mississippi State 3-0 at the Auburn Soccer Complex.
“I’m really pleased with our performance,” said head coach Karen Hoppa. “We played great defense allowing zero shots in the first half, which really set a good tone for us. I’m happy we picked up the third goal, got a lot of players minutes today and it was a really good team effort.”
Auburn took a 20-4 shot advantage over the Bulldogs, forcing State to make seven saves.
Forward Ellie Leek took the first goal of Auburn's shutout, sending the ball to the back of the net in the 28th minute.
“The back post was empty, Courtney Schell was about to cross the ball in and Casie [Ramsier] jumped to make the keeper miss," Leek said. "I had the easiest goal I was ever going to score in my career."
In the 37th minute, Brooke Ramsier added to the Tigers lead, making it 2-0 after scoring on a corner kick.
“We had been practicing [corners] all week, so when I hit it in my teammates had great pressure to distract the goalie so she wasn’t able to see it went in,” said Brooke Ramsier.
Auburn maintained a 2-0 lead at the half and held the Bulldogs without a shot in the opening 45 minutes of play.
Sixteen minutes into the second half, Kristen Dodson recorded her sixth goal in the last four matches and set the contest bar high at 3-0. Bri Folds and Schell combined to register assists as the cross into the box was headed by Dodson for her team-leading ninth goal of the 2016 season.
The score line remained unchanged in the final 30 minutes of play to give Auburn their fifth-straight conference win.
The Tigers played a season-high 22 players with three players logging season-bests in minutes played. Alyse Scott, Ashton Brock and Kerry Dunn each recorded a season-high with 22, 17 and four minutes on the pitch, respectively. Scott even tallied a save in final moments.
The Tigers move to 92-1 when scoring three-plus goals in a match since Hoppa was appointed in 1999.
Auburn returns to the field Friday, Oct. 14, when it welcomes No. 11 Arkansas to The Plains. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Auburn Soccer Complex.
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