The Auburn soccer team came up empty handed in its fifth-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, losing to South Florida 3-1.
Sophomore midfielder Ana Cate scored a free kick in the 52nd minute to tie the game, but USF's Taylor Patterson scored twice in addition to Sharla Passariello's one goal to give the Bulls the win.
"The whole game we were knocking on the door," Cate said. "We had shots. We had shots on goal. We had opportunities and we finally finished the one. It really gave us the boost that we needed.
"Mentally, after we scored, we really thought we could do it. Right after that we had at least two or three good shots. Those go in and it's a different game. Those go in and we're winning."
Junior midfielder Katy Frierson said the South Florida midfield attack was key, with ball handling paramount to the Tigers' loss.
"Their front three are very dangerous," Frierson said. "The midfield does a great job of getting them the ball. They're dangerous on the counter-attack. As we were pushing forward trying to get that next goal, there was a huge gap within them. We understood that was going to happen. Our midfield did a great job of winning the first and second ball, but a lot of it opened up once when we starting pressing forward."
The Tigers finished the season 11-8-2, ending a season marked with big wins against powerhouses like Florida State and Florida, ranked No. 5 and No. 6 respectively at time of defeat. Auburn also beat Alabama, a win that marked coach Karen Hoppa's 200th career win.
"We had some really big moments," said coach Karen Hoppa. "We had the big Florida State win and the big Florida win; obviously Alabama, it doesn't get any bigger than that, but we also lost some games we shouldn't have lost.
"The goal for next year is to win all the games we should win."
Auburn took its seventh SEC West title, beating out closest competition LSU, Ole Miss and Alabama's records of three titles each.
The Tigers also walk away with three All-SEC honorees, with Sammy Towne named to the second team and Julie King and Frierson taking first team accolades.
Hoppa said her focus now is recruiting. She said she will most likely recruit strikers and other offensive players heavily in 2011 to replace her graduating senior class.
"We want to compete for the SEC Championship," Hoppa said. "We think we're capable. We want to go deep into the tournament, somewhere we've never been before, and get past that second round into the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight."
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