Auburn (12-5-2, 4-5-1 in SEC) took Florida (6-9-4, 4-4-2 in SEC) to penalty kicks, but lost 2-1 in the first round of the SEC Tournament Sunday afternoon.
"It's a heartbreaker," Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa said. "We did everything we needed to do to win, we just didn't get the bounce at the end of the day. We took it to them for the last 70 minutes of the game and created 25 scoring opportunities. We just needed one more ounce of composure. Unfortunately, we didn't have it."
This was the fifth time for Auburn to take a match to penalty kicks in the SEC Tournament and first time since 2015. Auburn had done well in penalty kicks in the tournament as of late, advancing to the next round three of the last four times.
Florida converted on two of its first three penalties before Gianna Montini scored for Auburn to keep the Tigers' hopes alive. However, Florida keeper Kaylan Marckese stopped Auburn’s fifth and final shot to end the game.
“We'll obviously learn from this," Hoppa said. "It's definitely great experience going into NCAAs. We're going to learn from this game and get ready for our first round NCAA game, wherever and whoever that may be."
Taylor Troutman scored Auburn’s lone goal during regulation while Angeline Daly got the assist. The goal was Troutman’s second of the season and Daly’s third assist.
Auburn started out incredibly strong on the offensive side of things outshooting Florida 3-0 in the first six minutes. However, Florida scored first with a penalty kick that was awarded in the 20th minute.
Auburn’s defense and goalkeeper Sarah Le Beau kept the Gators in check for the rest of the first half and the Tigers trailed by one heading to intermission.
Florida was issued a red card in the 57th minute and Auburn took the opportunity of being a player up and equalized with the Troutman goal in the 74th minute. Troutman got a header off the Daly corner kick and put the ball in the back of the net.
"Coming out of halftime, we just took it to them and never looked back," Hoppa added. "The response was tremendous. We got one and did enough to get a second, we just didn't get it."
Auburn outshot Florida 21-13 in regulation and 25-15 through double overtime, while the defense held the Gators off the scoreboard up to the start of penalties.
Seventeen Tigers saw the field in the match, including five who played all 110 minutes.
Auburn heads back home to await its fate in the NCAA Tournament. The tournament will be announced next Monday, Nov. 5, at a time which has not yet been determined
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
