Auburn soccer comes up short in two-point loss to No. 14 South Carolina

The Tigers and Gamecocks were nearly identical in every stat tonight including shots (12-13), saves (3-4) and corners (1-2) but came up short against the two-time defending SEC champion Gamecocks. 

No.23 Auburn (9-2-1, 1-2-1 in SEC) faced a formidable opponent on the road in No.14 South Carolina (9-2-0, 3-1-0 in SEC) and was defeated by the Gamecocks, 3-1, Friday night at Stone Stadium. 

Both teams had chances early on with no success until South Carolina got on the board in the 17th minute of the game. Selma Sol Magnusdottir scored on a right-footed shot from outside the 18-yard box and into the upper 90. 

The score remained 1-0 heading into halftime as Auburn’s defense held strong the South Carolina attack as the Tigers looked for a goal of their own coming out of halftime. 

“We did a lot of things really well,” Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa said. “Credit to South Carolina. They made a lot of plays when they needed to on the goals, but I did not think it was a 3-0 game by any stretch. We had a lot of the possession in the second half, we just didn’t capitalize.”

In the second half, South Carolina added to the lead on another upper-90 goal in the 73rd minute before closing out with another goal on a defensive blunder in the 76th minute of the game. 

Sixteen of Auburn’s players saw action, and six of the starters played all 90 minutes. 

“I told the team I think we can get a ton out of this 90 minutes,” Hoppa said. “We need to grow from this game. South Carolina is coming off a College Cup performance last year, they’re a top-15 team. We’ll learn a ton from this game and will be better for it down the stretch.”

Auburn travels to College Station, Texas, next for a matchup against No. 5 Texas A&M (11-1-0, 2-1-0 SEC) Thursday at 6 p.m. CST on the SEC Network. Following the Aggies, Auburn heads home  to take on Georgia (4-4-3, 1-1-1 SEC) Sunday at 2 p.m. CST on the SEC Network.