No. 23 Auburn soccer uses strong second half to down Florida

No. 23 Auburn defeated Florida 2-0 on Sunday from the Auburn Soccer Complex. 

The Tigers scored both of their goals in the second half of the game after dominating the possession and shot total in the first, without being able to score. 

“I felt our shot selection in the first half wasn’t great,” said head coach Karen Hoppa. “At halftime, we talked a lot about shot selection and serve selection. I thought the team responded really well and created a lot of good opportunities in the second half.”

The flood gates finally opened for Auburn when Marissa Arias launched a shot into the bottom left of the net from just outside the box.

“That was a banger,” Hoppa said. “She’s been playing so well. She gets better every time we play, and she’s so creative, and then she has such a natural nose for the goal, and I thought her goal was outstanding.”

Arias has scored seven goals in Auburn’s last nine games, including the winner against LSU in addition to this go-ahead goal against Florida.

“It felt really nice,” Arias said. “I’ve just been trying to take advantage of the opportunities that I get. I know at this level they don’t come around very often, so I just tried to do what strikers do and put the ball in the back of the net."

Auburn scored its second and final goal 20 minutes later when Anna Haddock took a shot that the Florida goalie blocked, but the goalie blocked it right to Sydney Richards who was able to take full advantage and net Auburn’s second goal.

“I knew we had to put something in,” Richards said. “We had been working hard and had been so close to scoring the whole game, so for me personally, it was focusing on the small things, and making sure I was doing everything I could out wide to help us get a goal in any way I could, and I was just lucky enough to be there at the right time.”

Auburn ended up taking 25 shots for the whole game compared to the Gators who were only able to take two. The Tigers held their opponent to zero goals for the third straight goal, as Florida was not able to get going offensively. The only had two shots it had over game were easily saved by goalie Maddie Prohaska.

“Florida’s a good team,” Hoppa said. “They’ve got some really dangerous attacking players, and I thought our defense was just phenomenal. Mooney and Whitaker on the outside played great. What Craven and Malonson are doing at center back is just incredible. Those two have really flourished together.”

Looking ahead, Auburn faces off against No. 6 Arkansas next, and while it was very tough to not look ahead to the highly anticipated match against the Razorbacks, the Tigers had to make sure they stayed focused on taking care of business against Florida.

“I had to remind myself a few times to focus on Florida,” Hoppa said. “I would start thinking about Arkansas, and I’d have to keep myself in check.” 

Auburn is back in action on Thursday, Oct. 21 and it will be facing off against No. 6 Arkansas at the Auburn Soccer Complex. The game will kick off at 6:30 pm on SEC Network +.