Two late goals for Auburn were not enough to overcome a 3-0 deficit, and the No. 13 Tigers fell 3-2 at No. 17 South Carolina on Friday night.
The loss, Auburn’s second in conference play, brings the Tigers’ record to 8-3 overall. South Carolina improves to 9-2 and remains undefeated in conference play.
South Carolina had early success as Jyllissa Harris scored just under four minutes into the match. Catherine Barry would add another goal for the Gamecocks almost 20 minutes into play, giving South Carolina a 2-0 lead that the Gamecocks maintained at halftime.
Just over one minute into the second half, Ryan Gareis scored her first goal of the year to extend the Gamecocks’ lead to 3-0.
“Unfortunately, we made some mistakes early in each half and a very experienced South Carolina team capitalized on those mistakes," said Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa about South Carolina’s quick start in both halves.
Despite the deficit, Auburn continued to battle, and in the 55th minute, Alyssa Malonson scored her second goal of the season to put the Tigers on the board. Marissa Arias added her fifth goal for the Tigers with just under six minutes to play to cut the deficit to one, but the Tigers were unable to score again against a strong Gamecock defense and were dealt their second conference loss.
“Our team did a great job of battling back into the game and had some chances to tie it up,” said Hoppa.
The tough defense of South Carolina held Auburn to just six shots, almost 11 shots fewer than their season average of 16.7 shots per game. Three of Auburn’s six shots were on goal, with two goals and only one shot saved by South Carolina goalkeeper Heather Hinz.
Auburn became just the second opponent to score more than one goal against the Gamecocks, who have held its opponents to 7.3 shots and 0.91 goals per game. Auburn held South Carolina to nine shots, just under the Gamecocks’ season average of 12.9 shots per game. Five of the nine shots taken by the home team were shots on goal, with three finding the net and two being saved by Auburn goalkeeper Maddie Prohaska.
Coach Hoppa sees a learning opportunity from the defeat, Auburn’s third loss by one goal this season.
"We need to learn from these mistakes quickly before we go on the road again next week," Hoppa said.
The Tigers’ next road trip will be to Starkville, Mississippi, to face the Mississippi State Bulldogs, who are 3-4-3 overall and 1-2-1 in conference play, at 6:30 p.m. CST on Thursday, Oct. 7.
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Matthew is a senior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @mattwallaceAU
