The Auburn Tigers defeated the UC Irvine Anteaters 3-0 in their home opener Friday night at the Auburn Soccer Complex.
The Tigers were pumped and ready to take the field after waiting all summer according to sophomore Casie Ramsier said.
"It was awesome," Ramsier said. "I mean we were so pumped before the game. It was like the home opener. We've been waiting all of the summer and finally we got to it, so we were pretty pumped and ready."
Auburn's first goal came from senior Chelsea Gandy-Cromer, who scored off Ellie Leek's play from the corner kick seven minutes into the second half.
"I want to point out some things that we have kind of been stressing, especially in halftime," Gandy-Comer said. "That is just kind of be fearless in the box, own our box. We had corner after corner and Coach had just been stressing to get something on the end of it, I knew that I had it, and it bounced back, and I was just there and finished it."
Ten minutes later freshman Ellie Leek scored again off a play from freshman Kristen Dodson. It was Leek's first career goal for the Tigers.
"Kristen popped right up when I was on the edge of the box, and she played me like the perfect ball and I took the shot," Leek said. "I didn't even think that it went in, and then it hit the crossbar and went in. It was like a bit of a delayed reaction."
Sophomore Casie Ramsier would top off Auburn's victory with a third goal off a free kick played by junior Haley Gerken.
A productive Tiger defense held the Anteaters scoreless and only allowed their opponents one shot in the match.
"Defense wins championship games, so we are always going to keep that focus," Gandy-Comer said.
The loss they took to UC Irvine two years ago played a big role in Friday night's win, head coach Karen Hoppa said.
"For us, it was also about avenging our loss two years ago," Hoppa said. "We went out there and we lost 1-0, so that was a big factor as well."
Not having the season they wanted last year made starting out the home opener with a 3-0 win mean that much more , Hoppa said.
"We're excited about this group, and what you saw tonight that I think is really important is we have great depth," Hoppa said. "We're able to sub a lot deeper and that's a big difference especially this time of year when it's hot and everything. I think this team has loads of potential and I'm excited to see where we go."
The Tigers will face the Georgia Southern Eagles in the last match of the Tiger Classic on Sunday at 2:30 on SEC Network Plus.
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