The Auburn Women's Soccer team went head-to-head with Mercer and Tennessee Saturday, adding two wins to its record.
The games kicked off the start of the spring season, and in preparation the team has been working out almost every day for the past two weeks.
"They've been working really hard, so it's always nice to get out here and actually play a spring game," said assistant coach Amy Berbary.
The game against Mercer was a back-and-forth battle between the teams until Auburn started simplifying its plays, which opened
up the opportunity for freshman midfielder/forward Jessica Rightmer to assist sophomore midfielder Katy Frierson on a shot from 20 yards, bringing the score to 1-0, which would be the eventual game-winning goal.
"We were a little rusty at first, but once the game got underway, we got our composure and starting connecting passes and we looked good," Frierson said.
The second game of the day against SEC rival Tennessee was a big win for the team, with a final score of 1-0.
"They were playing a different formation, and we had to organize a lot faster on top of playing defensively," said freshman forward Mary Coffed. "That was a big aspect of the game today that led to our win."
Coffed scored the winning goal of the game.
The game was hard fought with a lot of tackles, with a score of 0-0 at halftime.
"We communicated a lot more and I think that really helped with organization and defending to attack," Frierson said. "We came out with a lot of passion and enthusiasm."
Throughout the season the team has been working on tactics like transitions, sorting things out all over the field and defending in order to attack in numbers.
"Winning the ball defensively and turning it into offense is something we've found to be a big key to our success," Coffed said.
After losing a good number of seniors, the team is relatively young and has been trying to fill in those holes.
"We're just trying to find our style and identity," Frierson said.
The team is excited with the number of recruits they have for next year, including a few international recruits.
With these two games under its belt, the team will now be able to go back and watch video in order to figure out what needs to be worked on for the next game.
Auburn will next play the Atlanta Beat at home March 10.
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