The Auburn Women's Soccer Team failed to extend their five-match winning streak Friday night, falling to Samford 2-1 after entering the national rankings for the first time since 2012.
The Tigers knew that they would have a target on their backs heading into this match up, and Auburn coach Karen Hoppa said her team struggled to find their groove against the Bulldogs.
"We respect Samford," Hoppa said. "We know that they are a great program. I think we were too tight and Samford came in as the underdog. Our young team didn't quite know how to handle that."
Samford struck first when forward Malcanisha Kelley scored off of a defensive breakdown by Kayla Faulkner and Alyse Scott. However, Coach Hoppa remains confident in the play-making ability of her defenders moving forward.
"99 percent of the time Kayla makes that play on the goal and so does Alyse," Hoppa said. "We just unfortunately made one mistake defensively and they capitalized. That's soccer sometimes."
Sophomore forward Casie Ramsier continued her scoring streak against Samford, providing the first half equaliser which turned out to be the only goal for the Tigers in the match. The goal came off a Samantha Solaru pass.
"It came to me and I just knew I needed to get it to the back of the net," Ramsier said."I'm not going to get many chances so I need to finish the ones I do so it was important to get that in."
The two teams kept the match even on the score board and the playing field until Samford took control of the game in the second half when forward Taylor Borman converted a penalty kick to put the Bulldogs ahead for good.
Auburn, off to its best start since 2011, has now been bested by Samford in two consecutive meetings. Auburn came into the game only giving up 20 shots, six on target.
The Tigers will finish their non-conference schedule Sunday at noon against Milwaukee. After a disappointing loss, Casie Ramsier believes the team will bounce back quickly.
"We will remember this and know that it doesn't feel good," Ramsier said. "We will come out Sunday and be ready to win."
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