On the afternoon of Monday, Nov. 5, the women's soccer team got news it had earned a bid to the NCAA tournament for the seventh straight year in a row.
"We're excited to play a brand new team with new players," said senior midfielder Jess Rightner. "It's like a whole new season."
According to senior goalkeeper Amy Howard, the team has high energy and is excited to travel and play Washington.
"Seattle is a quality team that should give us a good fight, so it should be a good game," Howard said.
The Auburn women's soccer team concluded the 2012 regular season with a record of 12-10-1. The team just completed the SEC tournament in Orange Beach over the weekend of Nov. 2 - 4.
While at the tournament, the team played No. 19 Tennessee, where neither team was able to capture a goal, but Auburn was able to advance and play against No. 12 Texas A&M.
"We actually scored a goal, but it was taken back," Rightner said. "Team-wise we felt that we won, and this boosted our confidence and energy for the next game."
The team initially lost to A&M when it played them on its home field toward the beginning of the season.
Rightner said because of the previous loss to the Aggies, the team was "motivated to play A&M at a middle field."
The team beat A&M 2-0 and progressed to the semi-finals, ultimately losing to No. 10 Florida 3-0.
"Florida is a great team that played a phenomenal game, and we dealt with them well," Howard said.
The senior has played 1,938 minutes throughout the season and is ranked in the top 10 nationally.
"I think the team is overall pretty happy with the season," Howard said. "There were some high points and low points, but our progression has been good. We lost players from last year, but every week we've gotten better."
Rightner agreed with Howard about the team's progression and accomplishments this year.
"At the beginning of the season, we struggled to find the type and style of team we were, our identity," Rightner said. "All the wins came toward the end of the season, and we grew and became better. Everything clicked. We were playing for each other."
Other postseason player accolades include sophomore forward Tatiana Coleman being named All-SEC First Team, and freshman defender Kala Faulkner being named SEC All-freshman before the SEC tournament Monday, Oct. 29.
Also on Tuesday, Nov. 6, senior forward Mary Coffed was named a part of the SEC soccer community service team.
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