The NCAA Tournament returned to The Plains for the fourth time in school history Saturday, with Auburn hosting the Southeastern Louisiana Lions at the Auburn Soccer Complex. The 13th tournament appearance in program history ended in victory with the Tigers defeating the Lions 1-0.
A week after falling to Florida in the SEC Tournament semifinals, Auburn took its time to settle in. Creating multiple shot opportunities, the ball reached the back of the Lions’ goal several times, but two were waved by offsides calls.
“We just said, 'Just keep going at them,''' said forward Kristen Dodson. “'Just keep pressing.'”
The Lions received an automatic bid into the tournament by winning the Southland Conference Tournament on Nov. 8, defeating Sam Houston State 3-1 in penalty kicks. They entered the tournament with a 13-4-4 record and found themselves in unfamiliar territory at Auburn, as it was the first time meeting for either team in their history.
The Tigers capitalized in the 41st minute when an assisting Casie Ramsier found Dodson in the box to put Auburn on the board. Going against Hope Sabadash, the goalkeeper for Southeastern Louisiana, the Tigers created 29 shot opportunities, but were stopped 11 times by Sabadash.
“As one of the leaders on the team I have to make sure the team is comfortable with what I’m doing so that they can worry about themselves,” said Sabadash.
The Lions' back line had no true defenders, as all players there were converted to their positions.
Auburn’s defense held the Lions to five shots, minimizing the workload for redshirt freshman Sarah Le Beau, who recorded one save in the match.
“Seeing our offense create [shot opportunities], we just knew we had to be compact and limit their shots,” said defender Kala Faulkner. “That’s what we did today.”
The Tigers will advance to the second round of the tournament to face Texas Tech on Friday, Nov. 20 in Tallahassee, Florida.
“We’ve been to Tallahassee a lot, we’re familiar there, we’re happy we’ve got the neutral game,” said coach Karen Hoppa. “They eliminated us last year in this same round, and we’re excited to have a chance at that game.”
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