After a tie versus Georgia, Auburn will head to Pensacola, Florida, to take on Tennessee in the first round of the SEC Tournament. Tennessee is coming off a 1-0 win versus Vanderbilt and is seeded ninth in the SEC. The two will play each other at 3:30 CST on Sunday, Oct. 29th, with the winner advancing to play No. 1 seed Arkansas on Tuesday.
Tennessee finished the season with a record of 8-5-4 overall and 3-4-3 in SEC play. The Volunteers come into the SEC Tournament having only won two of their last eight games, losing three and tying three. While they might be under .500 since entering SEC play, Tennessee is still a very dangerous team based on its ability to score.
Tennessee ranks fourth in the SEC in goals with 33 and third in goals per game with 2.06. The Vols ability to score puts a lot of stress on teams to score with them, however their defense does not make it terribly difficult for other teams to do so. Tennessee allowed 1.5 goals against per game which ranked third worst in the SEC, and its 2.75 saves per game also ranked fourth worst.
Auburn will have its work cut out for them in this matchup since Auburn does not rank very highly in many statics in the SEC. Auburn ranks third worst in goals per game with 1.41 and rank sixth worst in shots per game with 1.59. Auburn does rank slightly above average in defense, being tied for sixth in goals allowed per game with one, and fourth in saves with 3.29 per game.
Tennessee will look for big games from its trio of scorers in Kameron Simmonds, Jordan Fusco, and Sizzy Lawton. Each player ranks inside the top 10 of the SEC in goals. Simmonds is a forward who scored seven goals this season, however only one of those goals has come in SEC play – with it being against Vanderbilt last game.
Fusco is a midfielder who scored six goals on the season, with four in SEC play. Fusco did score three of her goals in one game against Texas A&M on Oct. 22. Lawton is a midfielder who also has goals on the season with four coming in SEC play. Like Fusco, Lawton also did a good amount of damage in one game with two of her four goals coming in one game against Missouri on Oct. 19.
While Tennessee may rank high in the SEC offensive rankings, it can be spotty and score in bunches to inflate its numbers. Unfortunately for Auburn however, Tennessee's top players seem to be hitting their stride the last few weeks which could spell trouble for the Tigers.
Auburn will need a big game from goalkeeper Maddie Prohaska. Prohaska ranks third in the SEC in saves while holding down the solid Auburn defense. If Auburn wants to win this game, it will need a good game from Prohaska, while receiving just enough goal support in return.
Auburn will look to advance this Sunday at 3:30 p.m. CST. If the Tigers do advance, they will have to play the first-seeded Arkansas Razorbacks on Tuesday at 5 p.m. CST. Auburn's game against Tennessee will be televised on SEC Network.
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Luke McClure is a junior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in sports production. He joined The Plainsman in fall 2023.
Twitter: @lukemcclure0
