After 110 minutes of play, Thursday evening's soccer match was called a tie after Auburn and Georgia each failed to score through double overtime--marking Auburn's second tie of the season and Georgia's first.
"You're happy on one end you didn't lose, but you're obviously mad you didn't win," said coach Karen Hoppa, "especially in this game (where) we had such an outstanding defensive effort, and we had chances to win. We probably had the better chances to win, so we're frustrated we didn't get the result."
The game proved to be a battle for both teams, as several players sustained minor injuries, including junior midfielder Ana Cate.
"The whole game was hard and physical," Cate said. "I was running out and I jumped up to hit (the ball) and I guess the girl thought that my stomach was the ball. It was like a dead leg to my stomach."
Cate was taken out after the injury, but returned to the field shortly after.
"This is a physical rivalry," Cate said. "It's going to be a physical match regardless of where we're at whether we're at Georgia or here. We expected that. It wasn't something that we were surprised by that they were coming out to kill us."
No. 22 Auburn (11-4-2, 5-3-1 SEC) entered the game three points shy of the four teams tied for first place in the conference, including Georgia (12-4-1, 6-2-1 SEC), South Carolina, LSU and Florida.
"We need to be better and more creative in our final third so we can create more opportunities," Hoppa said. "That would have helped us a lot."
Auburn has been ranked six of the past seven weeks by Soccer America, and upcoming matches against Tennessee and Alabama will determine standings before the Tigers compete in the SEC Tournament in Orange Beach, Ala., Nov. 2-6.
The Georgia game marked the last for seniors Katy Frierson, Heather Havron, Julie King and Lydia Townsend.
"Everybody knows what this class has done as far as winning games, but one thing people don't know is what great people they are as well," Hoppa said. "They're all great students and they're great people involved in the community. They have the kind of character you want representing the Auburn family."
The Senior Night honored the departing players with a pre-game presentation on the field and a post-game firework display.
The foursome has played together since 2008, achieving a 44-29-8 record, SEC West titles in 2008 and 2010 and three straight SEC and NCAA Tournament appearances.
The Tigers will play the Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville Sunday at noon.
"From Tennessee I expect a really dangerous attack," Hoppa said. "They beat Florida 4-2 already this year. They can score goals and they're the type of team where they get one look they score one goal. We expect them to be really dangerous coming forward and we'll have to be really sharp on our defending."
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