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A spirit that is not afraid

Auburn soccer squeaks out win at Long Beach State, remains undefeated

<p>&nbsp;Gianna Montini (29)&nbsp;scored Auburn's lone goal Sunday (Cat Wofford / Auburn Athletics).</p>

 Gianna Montini (29) scored Auburn's lone goal Sunday (Cat Wofford / Auburn Athletics).

No. 17 Auburn soccer (6-0-0) pulled out in front early with a long ball off the cross bar, dropped in by Gianna Montini and its defense took over and held the lead, winning 1-0 at Long Beach State (3-3-0) Sunday afternoon at George Allen Field. 

After the win, the Tigers move to 6-0-0 for just the third time in team history (2002, 2015). The loss is Long Beach State’s first at home this season. 

"The sign of a great team is you can win when you don't play well," Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa said. "I didn't think our soccer was great today, but we fought and battled for each other. We stayed with each other through a lot of adversity, and that's what I'm really happy about. Our team continued to fight and deal with whatever was thrown at them." 

The Californian Montini scored the match's solo goal in front of several family and friends. This was her first goal since the 2016 season and the second of her career, both of which have been the deciding goal. 

Coming off of a throw in from the far side, Montini launched off her right foot from outside the 18-yard box the ball, hitting the crossbar, then deflecting off the goalkeeper's back into the net. 

"It was amazing to be home and just put that one away for the team," Montini said. "It was more about the team and my mom today. Everyone fought hard, we put it away and I couldn't be more proud."

Montini wasn’t the only Tiger to get her feet dirty this game as Auburn had a total of seven combined shots. The rest of the shots came from three other Tigers: Jessie Gerow whipped three shots Long Beach State’s way, with one being on goal, Bri Folds snuck in two shots and one on goal, and Taylor Troutman slung one shot. 

Redshirt senior goalkeeper Sarah Le Beau and the Auburn back line held down the fort, defending 14 shots from Long Beach State. The effort paved the way for the team to pitch its second straight shutout and fourth of the season. 

Le Beau pulled out six saves in the match. She even staved off a pair of point-blank shots and helped extend the team's scoreless streak to more than 225 minutes. This is her 25th career shutout. 

"We gutted it out and I couldn't be more proud," Le Beau said. "I'm just really proud of our overall team defending. People started putting their bodies on the line, blocking shots and being tight in the box. We paid attention to detail and that's one of the reasons we got shutouts in both games."


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