Auburn soccer held its Military Appreciation Match against Texas A&M on Oct. 13. Both teams, coming off a top-25 victory in its last respective match, battled to a 0-0 draw, each earning one point in the SEC standings.
The Tigers battled hard and their defense remained strong throughout the first half.
“Hats off to the defense tonight,” said head coach Karen Hoppa. “We played great on that end of the ball, and not just the defenders and (Maddie) Prohaska. We had strong team defense all night. I felt that our chances were more dangerous than theirs. We were just unlucky to not put one in.”
Texas A&M (7-5-3) generated the majority of the offensive attacks in the first 20 minutes. However, the power struggle for possession was displayed throughout the entirety of the match.
Auburn and Texas A&M had stalled offensive attacks during the first 45 minutes. The first half ended with a shared possession percentage and a tied score of 0-0.
Both teams struggled to find the goal throughout the match and relied heavily on its defense. The tempo remained fast, and both teams took advantage of its counterattacks.
Not many changes occurred in the second half and both teams continued to struggle to find the goal. Auburn created six shots on goal by the final, however, fifth year goalkeeper Kenna Caldwell had all six saves for the Aggies.
Auburn's goalkeeper Prohaska had seven saves for the Tigers and held the SEC’s top goal-scoring team to zero, adding another shutout to her record. Auburn had 10 shots by the final, however, Texas A&M had 13, outnumbering the Tigers by three.
“We were hungry for a shutout,” Prohaska said. “Obviously, we didn’t get one on the board, but we handled a lot of the details right today. We’re still trying to have our best performance on both ends of the ball for the full 90, but there is nothing to hang our heads about.”
Texas A&M was awarded the first corner of the match in the 51st minute. Although both teams fought until the end, all offensive attacks were stalled and pressure was put on both teams' defense.
Anna Haddock, senior midfielder, played all 90 minutes of the match and accounted for three of Auburn’s six shots on goal. Fifth year forward, Sydney Richards, was another key player in Auburn’s offense during the match. Richards created three shots against Texas A&M and two scoring opportunities.
Although neither team gave up and continued to press forward, Texas A&M accounted for double the amount of fouls Auburn had by the final. The Aggies outnumbered Auburn in fouls 14-7.
Despite the hard effort of Auburn’s offense, it did not capitalize on its shots and tied Texas A&M 0-0. As Auburn prepares to take on Florida, Texas A&M will get ready to battle South Carolina on Oct. 19.
The Tigers will head to Gainesville, Florida, to take on the Gators for an SEC win. Auburn will play Florida (5-4-4) in Gainesville on Oct. 19 at 5 p.m. CST on SECN+.
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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.
