Senior night ended in success for the No. 13 Auburn soccer team with a 3-1 win over Tennessee at the Auburn Soccer Complex on Thursday.
“We always want to send the seniors off in the right way,” head coach Karen Hoppa said. “It’s just an incredible senior class and to be able to get them all into the game and get a result from them on senior night, they deserve it. I was proud of our team for making sure to send this group out the right way.”
Auburn held a 21-3 lead in shots over Tennessee while matching the program record for conference wins in a season. The Tigers win over the Vols was up their ninth league win.
Tennessee took a 1-0 lead in the opening 15 minutes but Kristen Dodson responded with her 11th goal of the season to tie the match at 1-1, where the score remained locked going into the second half.
“I thought we really grew into the first half,” Hoppa said. “We gave up a goal on a corner and it was a great goal by their player, but I felt the first half we got better as the half went on and to get Kristen’s [Dodson] goal to go into halftime 1-1 was huge. That gave us confidence heading into the second half. We just stayed with the game plan and I was proud of our team to not get frustrated, and they stayed with it.”
In the 81st minute, Brooke Ramsier found her sister Casie, who earned her seventh goal of the season and was credited with her 11th-career game winning score. Casie Ramsier's goal matched the program record set by Katy Frierson (2008-11) and Sarah Steinman (2001-04).
“I just got the ball from Brooke [Ramsier], turned and saw a lot of space in front of me,” said Casie Ramsier. “Kristen [Dodson] made a great run that opened up the middle, I saw my chance and took it.”
Ramsier’s winner also marked her 32nd career goal, moving her into third place on the program’s all-time leaderboard.
Bri Folds scored the final goal in the match with a sharp shot into the top right corner to give the Tigers the 3-1 lead.
Before the match, the senior class of Kiana Clarke, Haley Gerken, Brooke Ramsier, Casie Ramsier, Alyse Scott and Samantha Solaru were honored for leaving their mark on the program.
The win officially locked the No. 2 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament for Auburn. The Tigers will face either No. 7 seed Tennessee or No. 10 seed Ole Miss on Wednesday, Nov. 2 in Orange Beach, Alabama. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. CST and all conference tournament matches will be televised on the SEC Network.
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