After 294 days off the pitch, Auburn soccer returned Thursday night.
To kick off head coach Karen Hoppa’s 25th season, the Auburn Tigers faced in-state foe Samford but couldn’t find a winning goal, as the game ended in a 0-0 tie.
“I thought a really good performance by our team,” Hoppa said. “That’s a great team like I said in pregame. Samford, nine straight conference championships, I think they’ll be favorites to win it again, and it’s a really good team, and I thought we played great.”
Auburn started Thursday night’s game threatening the Samford defense. With nine shots in the first half alone, the Tigers constantly lived in Samford’s box, but the Tigers were not clinical enough with their finishing, with only two of those nine shots on target.
Auburn’s second-half offense slowed down as the Tigers only recorded five shots with three on target. Auburn’s failure to score mirrored an issue that surrounded the 6-6-6 team from a season ago. Auburn was held scoreless in eight of its 18 matches last season and did not score a goal in the final three games of the season.
As for the slower second half, Hoppa said “part of it was us and part of it was Samford,” citing that the Bulldogs’ second-half energy played a part in calming Auburn's offense.
Hoppa hopes to see her team grow more confident in front of goal as the season progresses to see the chances turn into goals.
“I think we need a little more composure,” Hoppa said. “We had some of our best chances with one touch that we could have settled and really just passed it in the goal, so we just need that little extra bit of composure in the box.”
Leading the Tigers offensively, Carly Thatcher had the most shots for Auburn with four while Olivia Woodson had three of her own. Arguably Auburn’s best chance of the game fell to Woodson with 22 minutes left in the second half.
After a failed clearance from a Samford defender, Woodson found the ball at her feet on the left side of the pitch. The freshman used her speed to get near the keeper and put two shots on goal, but both were saved after Samford goalkeeper Zoe Clevely came off her line to meet Woodson. Clevely ended the match with five saves.
The bright side for Hoppa’s team was the show its defense put together. After recording seven shutouts a season ago, the Tigers didn’t seem to miss a beat as Madeline Moore, Mallory Mooney, LJ Knox and Hayden Colson held Samford to just three shots with zero on goal — making it an easy night for goalkeeper Maddie Prohaska who was not forced to make a save.
Auburn’s backline lost two starters from the 2022 team, and after a solid showing against Samford, Knox was happy with the performance.
“It was super encouraging to play a team like Samford who is always super competitive and hold them to zero goals, and so, for the first game, we know we have a far way to come but for starting, that was great,” Knox said.
Auburn aims to grab its first win of the season on Sunday as the Tigers host Troy. The game begins at 6 p.m. CST and will be televised on SEC Network+.
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Jacob Waters is a senior majoring in journalism. From Leeds, Alabama, he started with The Plainsman in August, 2021.
Twitter: @JacobWaters_
