On the verge of a disappointing draw with its in-state rival, the Auburn soccer team celebrated Senior Night with a 4-3 double overtime victory over Alabama on Oct. 25.
With 28 seconds left in the match, forward Tatiana Coleman received a deep punt from senior goalkeeper Amy Howard in stride and flicked it over Alabama goalkeeper Shelby Church for the game-winning goal.
"When I got the ball I said, 'You know what, either you end up with a tie or end up with a win,'" Coleman said afterwards. "I knew I had to put (the chance) in for my team and especially for the seniors."
Auburn was able to reclaim the Iron Bowl of Soccer Trophy with the win, avenging last year's heartbreaking 3-2 loss in Tuscaloosa. The dramatic victory also secured a first round bye in the SEC Tournament for the Tigers, a prize that head coach Karen Hoppa says is extremely valuable for Auburn's chances.
"The bye is massive," Hoppa said. "I don't think you can win the tournament if you have to play on Monday. The bye gives us a great chance to defend our title, and that's what we wanted."
Auburn rushed out to a commanding 3-0 lead in the first half, dominating all phases of play for the first 45 minutes.
Senior Mary Coffed got the Tigers rolling in the eighth minute, slotting a low line drive past Church for the opening goal. She would score again less than 20 minutes later off of a cross by Coleman. Coffed also got involved in a 32nd minute attack that ended with Alexa Allen setting up Coleman for a powerful goal just outside the penalty box.
"One of our goals as a team before we kicked off was to match their intensity and start off really strong," Coffed said. "Getting that first goal in the first ten minutes really gave us the boost at the start of the game that we needed, and we were able to rack up that 3-0 lead."
But it seemed like the script was flipped during halftime, as the visiting Crimson Tide were able to get all three goals back in the second half. The Tide's Theresa Diedrich started the comeback with a 55th minute goal off of a well-worked corner routine.
Later Alabama was awarded a controversial penalty in the 69th minute that appeared to be right at the edge of the box. Merel Van Dongen converted the spot kick to bring the visitors to a one-goal deficit. Alabama's comeback was completed ten minutes later when Laura Lee Smith powered a shot off the crossbar and past a diving Howard.
But Auburn was able to hold off the Alabama attack for the final ten minutes of regulation. In overtime, Howard came up with several fingertip saves to keep the Tigers' hopes alive.
"It's hard after you give up goals because that's your one job out there," Howard said. "But you have to mentally get right back in it and pretend like it's 0-0."
Howard's goalkeeping heroics gave Auburn the opportunity to end the game in the first overtime period, but a low shot from Coleman finished on the wrong side of the post with only seven seconds left on the clock.
But Coleman's final shot was able to find the back of the net.
"That's what goalscorers do," Hoppa said. "They can't focus on the one they missed, they have to focus on the next one. Tatiana's got such a great mentality and she showed tonight that she's a great goalscorer."
By securing the bye, Auburn will start their SEC Tournament title defense on Oct. 31 when they face Tennessee in the quarterfinals.
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