The Auburn Women's Soccer team defeated the University of South Alabama on Sunday for its first win of the season.
The teams battled it out in the pouring rain at Auburn's soccer complex.
The Tigers were determined to win after a tie Friday night against Dayton.
"Friday night's game was frustrating, but a tie is always better than a loss," said senior midfielder Jenni Prescott. "We redeemed ourselves today. We knew we needed to work hard and work together. We knew we had to win today and we did."
The first goal of the game was scored by sophomore midfielder Katy Frierson with assistance from junior midfielder Monica Afanador.
"The first goal was a huge relief personally. I didn't expect it at all," Frierson said. "Our coaches have been encouraging the midfielders to take more shots from a distance to open up defenses and be more of a threat in that regard. Monica Afanador did a great job all game winning the headers off punts and goal kicks for us. She played me a great ball. All I had to do was take the opportunity, put it on frame and hope for the best."
Freshman goalkeeper, and SEC Freshman of the Week, Amy Howard caught more raindrops than soccer balls in the first half.
"The rain makes the ball skip much more on the grass which is harder to handle for myself and the field players," Howard said. "Our defense has played awesome all year and hasn't given up many opportunities at goal."
With Auburn strong on defense, South Alabama had zero goal attempts in the first half, whereas, Auburn attempted 18.
The score at the end of the first half: Auburn 1-0.
The second goal was scored at the beginning of the second half by senior defender Lizzie Hamersly and assisted by sophomore forward Heather Havron.
"Anytime our team scores a goal it is very exciting and ups the teams spirit," Havron said. "Anytime the ball goes in the back of the net it motivates all of us to keep working hard to put another in."
The third and final goal was scored by freshman forward Mary Coffed.
"The team's performance today was great all around the board. Our defensive unit has been playing very well," Frierson said. "We just needed to play with more confidence going forward, so scoring three quality goals was huge for us. We have a lot of talent and a great team, we just really have to compete in every game and have that confidence in ourselves and in one another."
The final score was 3-0 Auburn, with 36 attempted shots for Auburn and seven for South Alabama.
"Knowing how hard we've worked so far this pre-season and season motivates us all to work for each other every practice and every game," Howard said. "I thought we played a great game. Scoring three good goals was a boost we really needed."
Havron said she was pleased with the team's performance this weekend.
"Not just because we won, which is always great, but because we had the result we have been working so hard to achieve every time we step out on the field," she said. "It was great to see everyone doing their best to contribute to help us achieve the end result and put three goals in."
As a team, the Tigers would like to win the SEC Tournament and remain undefeated at home, Prescott said.
In addition to those goals, Prescott said the team is working toward its long term goal of making it to the Sweet Sixteen at the NCAA Tournament.
"These are two things no Auburn team has ever done before, but we have a great senior class with a lot of drive," Frierson said. "We will all do everything we can to make these goals happen."
The Tigers return to action again on Friday against Kennesaw State at 7 p.m. at the Soccer Complex.
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