Last Thursday, the women's soccer team traveled to Knoxville to take on the Tennessee Volunteers in one of the team's final matchups before the SEC Tournament in Orange Beach.
The Auburn Tigers were victorious with a final score of 3-1, ruining Tennessee's senior night. This was Auburn's first win against Tennessee in Knoxville in five years.
The Auburn team started off slow. Going into halftime, Tennessee was ahead 1-0.
Senior forward Chelsea Yauch said she wasn't nervous going into the second half, even though Auburn was down.
"The coaches gave a really good halftime speech and basically told us that that wasn't going to be the only goal scored that night," Yauch said. "They told us that as long as we go out and do our thing and attack, the goals will come."
And the Tigers did just that. Just 32 seconds into the second half, Auburn scored its first goal tying the game at 1-1. The goal was scored by Yauch, bringing her season total to four goals.
Just nine minutes later, senior Becca Howell scored her fifth goal of the season, putting the Tigers ahead 2-1. This brought Howell's career total to 19.
The final goal of the night was scored by midfielder Julie King, totaling two season goals for the sophomore.
Senior Caitlin King assisted both King and Yauch in their goals. King now has 25 career assists at Auburn, eight of which were earned in the team's last three matches against Tennessee, Kentucky and Vanderbilt.
With a win over Tennessee under its belt, Auburn moved to sixth in the SEC standings with only two regular season matches remaining.
Tennessee's record is now 10-8-3 overall and 4-4-2 in the SEC, making them fourth in SEC East and sixth overall. Auburn's record moved to 8-7-3 overall and 5-5-0 in the SEC, making putting the Tigers at third in SEC West and seventh overall.
"Tennessee was our most important win of the season thus far," said Coach Karen Hoppa. "It clenched our spot in the SEC tournament and brought our record back to up 500."
Auburn played Georgia at home Sunday at 1 p.m. in the season's final home game. Auburn won 2-0, defeating Georgia No. 22 in NCAA Division 1 Women's soccer. Georgia is now ranked fourth in the SEC.
Yauch said she is confident in the team's ability after beating Tennessee and Georgia.
"I'm happy and excited for the team because we now know that we can really beat any team in the SEC," Yauch said.
The team celebrated senior night, recognizing seven seniors which include Stephanie Fransoso, Lizzie Hamersly, Becca Howell, Caitlin King, Jenni Prescott, Gabi Rivera and Chelsea Yauch.
"As far as our chances, I feel good," Hoppa said. "We're playing our best soccer right now and hopefully we get some momentum and can continue to play well against Alabama Friday."
The wins against Tennessee and Georgia moved Auburn up to the number five spot in the regional rankings.
The Tigers will play Alabama Friday night in Tuscaloosa. This will be Auburn's final regular season match before traveling to Orange Beach for the SEC Tournament, which begins Nov. 4.
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