Auburn defeated Ole Miss 2-1 in round one of the SEC soccer championship in Orange Beach Wednesday.
Auburn went into the tournament 6-5-0 in regular season conference play and ranked third in the SEC West and sixth overall.
"We did a great job of finding a way to win," head coach Karen Hoppa said in a press release. "Ole Miss is a great team and they played a great game, our girls just did a fantastic job of getting better from last weekend. We scored goals when we needed to and we did a great job of ending the game; the last 10 to 15 minutes, not giving them a good look and getting out of here with a 2-1 win."
The match was the second time Auburn had faced Ole Miss this season. Sept. 27 Auburn traveled to Oxford for the opening week of SEC conference play. The Tigers fell to the Rebels 3-2 in double-overtime. Auburn has not won a match against Ole Miss since 2004 going into the SEC soccer tournament.
Freshman forward Mary Coffed put the first point on the board early in the first period for Auburn with an assist by sophomore midfielder Katy Frierson.
"One of our keys to the game was to come out early and come out strong with a lot of physicality," Coffed said in a press release. "It was really important to get on the board first. We like to get the ball up the field as fast as we can. Katy gave me a perfect cross, and I was able to place it far post, so lots of the credit goes to Katy."
The goal was Coffed's fourth of the season. The assist for Frierson, the team's leader in assists, was her ninth of the season.
"I try to find the open pass and do whatever it takes to keep the ball for the team," Frierson said. "That's the role of the midfield, to keep the ball and keep possession."
The second goal came for Auburn when sophomore midfielder Julie King scored with another assist from Frierson. The goal was King's third of the season and, for the second time this season, Frierson had a multi-assist game. The assist was Frierson's 17th of her career.
Tuesday, Frierson was named First Team All-SEC. Three other Auburn players also received conference awards voted on by SEC coaches.
Senior forward Rebecca Howell and junior defender Sammy Towne were both named Second Team All-SEC.
Freshman goalkeeper Amy Howard was voted Freshman All-SEC.
Ole Miss' only goal came in the second period when a rebel player successfully slipped a slow rolling kick past Howard.
The goal was the first Auburn has allowed since early in the match at Tennessee Oct. 22.
Ole Miss took 15 shots at the goal to Auburn's 12 shots.
Howard defended Auburn's goal and made five saves to earn the win for the Tigers.
The win over Ole Miss allowed Auburn to advance to the semi-finals of the tournament - something the Tigers have not done since they made their run at the SEC Championship in 2005.
Friday at 5 p.m. Auburn takes on SEC West Champions and SEC ranked #2 LSU, who defeated SEC ranked #7 Vanderbilt, 4-2, in game one earlier in the day.
This will be the second time this season Auburn has faced the LSU. In their first meeting LSU traveled to Auburn and came away with a win, 2-0.
The winner of the Auburn/LSU match-up will advance to the championship game Sunday at 2 p.m.
The SEC Soccer Championship game will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
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