No. 9 Auburn (9-1-1, 1-1-1 SEC) received its first loss of the season at the hands of Ole Miss (8-4-0, 2-1-0 SEC), 3-2 Sunday afternoon at the Auburn Soccer Complex.
There were a pair of ties and a lead change, but in the end Auburn came out on the losing side of a one-goal decision after Ole Miss pulled ahead in the 78th minute.
"We did well to come back after going down 2-1 to tie the game," Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa said. "But our response to their third goal was poor, and our response defending their third goal was poor. We should've stopped it higher up the field, and we let one get away at home."
Jessie Gerow and Bri Folds accounted for Auburn's scoring in the match with their fifth and eighth goals of the season, respectively. Alyssa Malonson passed in an assist.
The Tigers got out to a lead in the 36th minute as Gerow received a center from Malonson near the top left corner of the box and scooped in a goal over the head of an Ole Miss defender. The celebrations were short lived, as Ole Miss answered less than two minutes later to even the contest going into halftime.
The Rebels took control of the game less than a minute into the second half as senior CeCe Kizer scored her first of two goals. Like Ole Miss, Auburn responded immediately with goal as Folds scored her third penalty kick of the season in the 57th minute. Gerow went down on a foul in the box to set up the penalty kick.
The game continued neck-and-neck until the final 15 minutes. Kizer slipped past the Auburn defenders and angled the ball into the side of the net to end the game.
Auburn stood alone as the only unbeaten team in the Southeastern Conference prior to today's game. The Tigers continue their fight in the SEC with a tough away game at No. 13 South Carolina (7-2-0, 1-1-0 SEC) Friday at 6 p.m. CT in Columbia, S.C.
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