Jenni Prescott celebrates Friday’s win over Belmont to put them in the second round.: JD Schein / PHOTO EDITOR
It was a weekend of triumph and disappointment for the Auburn women’s soccer team. When Sunday came to a close, so did the Tigers’ 2008-2009 season.
The Tigers started NCAA Women’s Championship play going against Belmont University at 5 p.m. Friday.
Belmont put Auburn goalkeeper Allison Whitworth to the test early with an attack that penetrated Auburn’s defense. A sliding save by Whitworth kept the score at 0-0.
Rebecca Howell passed to teammate Kara Kasten at the start of the 18th minute. Kasten buried the ball near post to grab a one point lead at the 22nd minute.
Auburn (12-9-2) struck again in the 64th minute when Kasten connected a pass to Jenny Prescott. After two control touches, Prescott tucked it away to put Auburn up 2-0. Belmont was unable to overcome the two-point lead.
Prescott said preparation was the key to Friday’s victory.
“We were prepared and knew all about them before we played,” Prescott said. “We knew we had to lay it all on the line or it would be over.”
The win advanced Auburn to the second round of the 2008 NCAA Women’s Championship for the first time since 2004.
Round two got under way at 2 p.m. Sunday, with the Tigers meeting No. 6 Florida State.
The Tigers and Seminoles were deadlocked the majority of the first half. With minutes remaining until the halftime whistle, Florida State received a one-on-one opportunity against Whitworth and sneaked by a goal in the 39th minute.
At halftime, Florida State led Auburn 1-0.
Auburn generated an opportunity at the 60th minute when Katy Frierson found Prescott wide open.
“Katy worked so hard to keep that ball,” Prescott said. “I was wide open, but I was also at an awkward angle. I might have taken another touch, but instead I one-timed it and shanked it.”
As the game drew to a close, both teams became more aggressive. Whitworth said the referees had to tell the Belmont attacker to get out of her face.
“A couple of times the forward got a little close trying to block me, and the referee had to talk to her,” Whitworth said. “But no words were exchanged. It was just a physical battle.”
Later on in the game, confrontations between the two teams led the referee to offer the players not words, but yellow cards.
Auburn’s Lizzie Hamersly received a yellow card in the 77th minute. Almost one minute later, a Florida State player tackled Gabi Rivera, resulting in a yellow card and a free kick. Frierson took the kick for Auburn, but her shot sailed just inches over the crossbar. None of Auburn’s six shots on goal made it into the back of the net, and the game ended 1-0.
Prescott said maintaining a high intensity level was a challenge.
“It’s hard to play a 90- minute game at that level,” Prescott said. “If we had played just a little longer at that level, maybe something better would have come from today.”
Head coach Karen Hoppa said the Tigers goalkeeper kept the Seminoles from running up the score.
“Whitworth came up with some huge saves and kept the game close,” Hoppa said.
Whitworth tallied 12 saves for the day. The other goal saw less action. Hoppa said the Tigers are going to have to work on their offense.
“We have to do a better job getting shots on frame,” Hoppa said, “We didn’t force their goalie to make the saves, Whitworth did.”
Hoppa said the Tigers will lose a few players this year. Kasten, Whitworth, Jenn Johnson and Kori Hoelscher wrapped up their final season.
Prescott said she is looking toward the future.
“From here we can build,” Prescott said. “Next year I think we can make our goal and make the Sweet 16. It’s definitely something to look forward to.”
