After losing to Wake Forest and defeating American, Auburn (4-1-1) hits the road as it prepares to take on West Virginia (2-4) in Morgantown, West Virginia, on Sept. 7, and Ohio State (2-2-1) in Columbus, Ohio, on Sept. 10.
The Tigers will harp on Maddie Prohaska in net, who had three saves against Wake Forest Thursday night to reach 200 career saves with the Tigers.
The Tigers forwards Carly Thatcher, Olivia Candelino and Marissa Arias combined had seven of the 13 shots during Thursday night's game against Wake Forest.
Mallory Mooney also had a standout game, creating two shooting opportunities and one shot on goal for the senior defender. Lastly, Maquena O'Callaghan, the freshman midfielder, created one shot on goal and played 69 minutes coming off the bench.
Despite recording 13 shots against the Demon Deacons, only three shots were on goal, making Auburn's shot-to-goal ratio zero percent as the Tigers were shutout.
Following the Wake Forest loss, the Tigers took on American (0-3-2) on Sept. 3 and closed the match with a 3-0 win, ending American goalkeeper Julia Kato's hopes of recording three consecutive shutouts. They outshot American 20-3 and had 10 shots on target compared to the Eagles' two.
Auburn's freshman forward Olivia Woodson scored both her first and second career goal in Sunday’s game against American, while Dylan Driver added another to give Auburn three goals.
Auburn is 2-0 in away games, showing a strength in playing on the road. The team hopes to give West Virginia its fifth loss of the season, upgrading its losing streak to three games in a row.
Auburn’s defense will have to remain tough when facing West Virginia's attacking line. Dilary Heredia-Beltran, Chloe Alder, Julianne Vallerand and freshman Jordyn Wilson make up 24 of the Mountaineers 41 shots on goal.
However, Auburn’s Mooney and Madeline Moore’s dynamic duo should pose many problems for West Virginia's attacking forwards.
Ohio State is currently coming off of a 6-0 win against Oakland. The junior forward from Ohio State Kailyn Dudukovich scored two of the six goals in the match against Oakland. The rest of the Buckeyes starting line accounted for the other four goals.
Ohio State plays Ohio on Sept. 7 and three days later will turn around and play Auburn on Sept. 10. Ohio State has currently outscored its opponents by 21 goals and its attacking forwards are not meant to be taken lightly. Dudukovich, Amanda Schlueter, Ava Bramblett and Ella Giannola combined to record 27 of the 38 shots on goal for the Buckeyes.
Anna Haddock, Sammie Brown, Sydney Richards, O’Callaghan, Becky Contreras, Maddy Bondon and Sydnie Thibodaux control the midfield for the Tigers and its backline could cause problems for Ohio State’s forwards.
Auburn will play West Virginia on Sept. 7 at 6 p.m. CST on ESPN+. Three days later, it will play Ohio State on Sept. 10 at 11 a.m. CST on B1G+.
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Caroline Roberts is a freshman from Athens, Alabama, majoring in sports production and broadcasting. She joined The Plainsman in Fall 2023.
