Coming off a tough double overtime loss at Clemson Friday night, Auburn soccer got back to their winning ways at Auburn Soccer Complex Sunday night. Kristen Dodson scored both goals as the Tigers defeated the University of North Dakota 2-0.
Auburn controlled possession from the opening whistle, earning scoring chance after scoring chance in the opening half. The Tigers outshot North Dakota 14-0 in the first half, but could not net a goal as Catherine Klein made nine saves for the Fighting Hawks in the opening 45 minutes.
The Tigers wasted no time converting in the second half, however, as Dodson scored on a volley off a perfect pass from Alyssa Malonson just 40 seconds into the second half. Dodson would net her second of the game eight minutes later as her shot went off the crossbar and in. Malonson had the assist on this goal as well.
“That’s what we need from our senior all-star up top. [Dodson] took the game into her own hands and got two goals in the first eight minutes [of the second half] and put the game away. Terrific performance by her and two great goals,” Auburn coach Karen Hoppa said.
Auburn’s defense was solid throughout, the Tigers held North Dakota without a shot until the 55th minute and did not allow a shot on goal. Auburn outshot North Dakota 30-1 in all.
“Our defense is playing great. Our defense is getting better every game, I thought Sarah Le Beau was really aggressive coming off her line which we need her to do, and to give up zero shots on goal is a great performance by our back four,” Hoppa said.
It was a dominant performance from start to finish on Sunday, but it was not perfect, at least not according to Hoppa.
“Overall, I’m happy with the way we played. Obviously, we came out and we were aggressive, but we’ve got to be better in the final third. We created too many chances to go into halftime 0-0. So that’s going to be a focus for us going forward,” Hoppa said.
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