The Auburn women's soccer team added two conference wins Sept. 28 and Sept. 30, winning 4-2 vs. South Carolina and 1-0 vs. Ole Miss.
Despite going down 2-0 in the 20th minute against South Carolina, team play sparked an Auburn comeback. \0x10The Tigers scored four straight goals to get the victory.
Both of South Carolina's early goals came off\0x9B set pieces.
\0x10The Gamecocks' junior forward Danielle Au scored her first in the 14th minute with a nice \0x9Efinish from 10 yards out.
Au grabbed her second of the match just six minutes later when she knocked a rebound off the crossbar into the net following a corner kick.
The Auburn comeback started when junior defender Bianca Sierra converted a spot kick in the 35th minute, bringing the Tigers within a goal, 2-1.
It was Sierra's third goal of the season and the fourth of her career. \0x10The referee awarded the Tigers the penalty after freshman forward Alexa Allen was brought down in the box
after an individual dribble.
\0x10The equalizer came 13 minutes into the second half from freshman midfielder Natalie Donaldson. \0x10The Tigers had a buildup, ending with junior mid\0x9Efielder Maddie Barnes laying it off\0x9B to Donaldson, who had a low-line drive deflected into the net from 20 yards out.
\0x10The Tigers took the lead in the 65th minute when freshman defender Kala Faulkner beat her defender one on one and powered a shot into the near post past South Carolina sophomore goalkeeper Sabrina D'Angelo.
Sophomore forward Tatiana Coleman's strike in the 76th minute sealed the victory for the Tigers. Coleman blasted a shot from 25 yards out into the right upper 90.
"For us to be able to come from behind and put four goals on the scoreboard against a quality team like South Carolina really shows the potential of this team," said coach Karen Hoppa.
Coleman came through for the Auburn Tigers yet again on the evening of Sept. 30, scoring the only goal of the match, winning 1-0 over Ole Miss.
She has scored in each of her last three matches, pushing her goal tally to four this season.
Despite Ole Miss controlling much of the possession in the second half, senior goalkeeper Amy Howard and the Auburn defenders played kept a clean sheet. It was Howard's third clean sheet of the season and the 18th of her career.
Ole Miss (9-4-0, 2-4-0 SEC) came close to breaking the 0-0 tie in the 48th minute when a header in the box struck the crossbar, before it was cleared away by Auburn defenders.
Auburn (7-6-0, 3-3-0 SEC) found a great chance to go ahead in the 72nd minute when Allen \0x9Efired a shot from the top of the 18-yard box just wide of the post.
In the 75th minute, Coleman collected a great ball from over the top, but Ole Miss sophomore goalkeeper Kelley McCormick rushed off\0x9B her line to deny Auburn the lead.
One minute later, Auburn got its revenge when junior midfielder Maddie Barnes played a through ball on the left to Coleman, who slid it past Ole Miss' McCormick inside the near post.
Hoppa was happy with the Tigers' team e\0x9Bffort and getting back to a .500 record in conference play.
"This game was critical," Hoppa said. "\0x10They are a great team and that makes this an incredible result for us. This helps us in the SEC standings and it helps us in the overall standings. We are back to having a winning record, which is critical for post-season concerns."
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
