Remaining unbeaten through the weekend, Auburn soccer matched up with last year’s NCAA Tournament foe Samford and scratched out a 1-1 tie.
The scoring began early, with the Bulldogs opening with a thirteenth-minute goal that bounced off an Auburn defender before finding the net.
Not to be outdone, though, was junior Anna Haddock, who quickly answered just two minutes later with a cross to Maddie Simpson, who fired from just inside the keeper’s box.
Auburn did have two late scoring opportunities, with one goal coming midway through the second half but it was called back on a Tiger foul.
“I think our offensive is starting to connect really well, we just have to finish our opportunities,” Simpson said. “We’re going to take this one personal and look to the next.”
Simpson’s goal was her second from their games this week and Haddock’s assist went down as her third-straight game to log one.
Another scoring opportunity came up ten minutes later with the Tigers earned a penalty kick, but Samford keeper Morgan McAslan made the read and recorded a save.
“What a great game,” said head coach Karen Hoppa. “That is a really strong, veteran Samford team. I was very happy with our performance. I thought we were very dominant in the second half. We created a ton of chances, and just got unlucky on the ball that got called back.”
Auburn out-shot the Bulldogs 19 to nine, with 15 of its shots coming in the second half of play. Keeper Maddie Prohaska added two saves to bring her career total to 152.
Those two goals were the only scores for the duration of the game and due to a rule change removing tiebreakers from the regular season, Auburn settled for its fourth tie of the year.
Samford had defeated Auburn at the end of last season, drawing the opposite side of the bracket to face the host Tigers, upsetting them and knocking them out of the single-elimination tournament.
While they were unable to avenge the loss, Auburn will take its strong weekend performance into SEC play. The Tigers open on the road, traveling to Columbia to face Missouri on Friday.
“The big thing is that we’re growing,” Hoppa said. “We’re playing a lot better and giving ourselves more opportunities. Hopefully, that will give us some offensive momentum going into SEC play.”
That week of preparation will be helpful in terms of rest, as Auburn has had to sit through multiple weather delays through their recent games, facing late nights and lots of travel.
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Callie Stanford, junior in communications, is the sports editor at the Auburn Plainsman. Currently a junior, she has been with The Plainsman since January 2021.
Twitter: @Stanford1Callie
