For 100 minutes Sunday, Auburn's defense held No. 14 South Carolina's attack under wraps.
But two defensive lapses, one at the end of regulation and one at the end of the first overtime period, proved fatal in the end, as the Tigers fell 2-1 (6-3, 0-1 SEC) in their SEC home opener.
"I thought our team really played well today against the No. 14 team in the country," head coach Karen Hoppa said. "We were right there toe to toe with them."
It was a cagey affair for most of the match Sunday, with neither team able to break down the opposition's defense.
It took until the last five minutes of regulation for South Carolina (8-1, 1-0 SEC) to open the scoring, when Gamecock forward Savannah McCaskill was brought down in the penalty box by Kala Faulkner.
Sophie Groff then froze Auburn goalkeeper Alyse Scott to score the penalty into the right side of the goal. It was Groff's fourth goal of the season.
Auburn then equalized minutes later after midfielder Brooke Ramsier latched onto the end of a pass in the box and slid her shot past Gamecock keeper Sabrina D'Angelo.
"There wasn't a lot time when they had scored their goal, so I'm proud of the team for not giving up," Ramsier said. "We knew we had to stay composed and not get all freaked out because there wasn't a lot of time left."
In the first golden goal overtime, South Carolina defender Taylor Leech nearly scored on a header off a corner kick, but Scott made a diving save, clawing the shot off the line at the last moment.
The Tigers' defense fatally faltered a few minutes later, however, when Gamecock midfielder Stevi Parker latched onto a bounding ball just outside of the box.
Her volley screamed past Scott and into the top corner of the goal, sealing the victory for the Gamecocks in the final 30 seconds of overtime.
Despite the loss, Hoppa said she was impressed with the defensive performance of her team.
"We were really organized," Hoppa said. "It took two really fantastic goals to beat us, on that penalty kick and then the upper-90 bomb. Full credit to our defense and the way our team played. It took a brilliant goal to beat us tonight."
Hoppa said the team has a number of positive takeaways from the loss as it prepares for a trip to Vanderbilt on Sept. 26.
"We can play with anyone and we've got as good a chance in this league as anyone," Hoppa said. "We're going to learn from this and we'll go in and compete for the rest of conference play."
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