Auburn Women's Soccer team bowled over Alabama Friday night for its fourth consecutive victory in the Iron Bowl of Soccer.
The 2-0 victory improved Auburn's record to 9-7-3 and 6-5 in the SEC. Alabama's record dropped to 6-10-1 and 2-7-1 in the SEC.
Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa said she was happy with the result of the game.
"Any time you can beat Bama, it's great," Hoppa said. "They will always be prepared for the game because the rivalry is so big, so it's nice to leave Tuscaloosa with a win."
Auburn's victory was its third in a row and it eliminated Alabama from SEC tournament contention.
Hoppa said the win was a big step in Auburn's attempt to make the NCAA Tournament.
"Where we stand, it was a big win," Hoppa said. "We're trying to make the NCAA tournament right now, and that game was a big step for us. If we can win on Wednesday, I think we'll be in."
Senior forward Rebecca Howell led the Tiger's attack with a goal on a play set up by a corner kick from sophomore forward Heather Havron.
"Heather had a great corner," Howell said in a release. "I had just missed a goal earlier and we got another corner, and when we got the second corner I knew I was going to score."
Howell's goal was her fourth in three games and 22nd of her career.
The successful shot tied Howell with Tiffany Smith (1993 - 96) and Chrissy Culver (2001 - 04) for fifth all-time in Auburn soccer history.
Hoppa said Howell's goal was exactly what the Tigers needed at that point in the game.
"That was her third game winner in three games," Hoppa said. "She's playing great right now; she's scoring a lot of goals."
Auburn's second goal was scored by sophomore midfielder Katy Frierson in the 31st minute.
Frierson scored on a 35-yard shot when the Alabama goalkeeper was out of position.
"The keeper was really high off the line," Frierson said. "We got really great scouting reports from our coaches and they told us to look for that. I was in a great position on the field and there wasn't any pressure, so I took a shot and it worked out."
Frierson's goal was her fifth this season and her 43rd career point in 41 games.
Frierson has scored 14 goals in her career, 12 of them during SEC play.
Other highlights from the game include the shutout posted by freshman goalkeeper Amy Howard.
Howard finished with five saves to give her 106 saves this season, earning her the second-best single-season performance from any keeper in Auburn's history.
Howard is now sixth all-time in career saves.
Howard has five shutouts this season, and no team has scored on Auburn in the last 259 minutes.
The last goal against Auburn came in the 11th minute of the Tennessee game, Oct. 22.
With their victory in Tuscaloosa, the Tigers bring home the Iron Bowl of Soccer trophy. The traveling trophy has the score of every Auburn-Alabama soccer game ever played.
The winner of the game gets to keep the trophy until the next competition.
Auburn has maintained possession of the trophy for the last four seasons and has taken it home in eight of the last 10 games.
Frierson said she was happy for this year's seniors because they have never lost to Bama.
"It feels great," Frierson said. "The game wasn't pretty, but we got the goals we needed to get the win."
In addition to the Iron Bowl trophy, the Tigers secured the sixth seed in the SEC Tournament in Orange Beach.
Auburn faced Ole Miss yesterday in the first round of the SEC Tournament.
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