No. 6 Auburn Tigers secured a 1-0 victory over Florida on Sunday, putting the Tigers record at 9-0-1. It was the Tigers' and Gators' second SEC match of the season, with Auburn tying Vanderbilt and Florida tying Kentucky in their first matches.
Junior Lauren McCloskey and sophomore Lena Bailey created the only two scoring opportunities for the Florida Gators in the first half.
Both Auburn and Florida battled hard in the first half. Four recorded fouls in 20 minutes, resulted in a yellow card for Vera Blom and the Florida Gators due to unsporting. Blom leads the Gators in goals and is on top of the team’s stat sheet.
Florida made a significant move, substituting five players simultaneously in the 24th minute of play.
The Gator defense played a high line and drew five offside calls against Auburn. This stalled several of Auburn’s offensive attacks and created minimal momentum for the Tigers. Florida’s goalkeeper, graduate student Alexa Glodberg, went untouched in the first half.
“We’ve got to do a better job of creating more opportunities. We were a little bit slow on that today and then we didn’t handle the press really well,” said Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa.
Maddie Pronshka recorded two saves heading into the half where Florida led 4-2 in shots. The first half ended scoreless at halftime.
Auburn began the second half with another offsides call which stalled another offensive attack for the Tigers.
Senior midfielder Sydnie Thibodaux accounted for Auburn’s first shot on goal, resulting in Goldberg’s first save of the game for the Florida Gators.
Sophomore Jordyn Crosby scored the match's opening goal with an assist from Anna Haddock, giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
The Tigers continued to put pressure on the Gator defense, and redshirt junior Shelby Salle forced Goldberg’s second save of the match.
Auburn shut down sophomore Delaney Tellex, an offensive weapon for the Florida Gators.
The Tigers emerged from halftime energized, leading 12-7 in shots and 4-2 in shots on goal, reversing the statistical momentum from the first half.
Sophomore Olivia Woodson added to Auburn’s shots on goal and led to Goldberg's third save. Florida recorded five fouls in five minutes during the second half. Both teams recorded a total of 18 fouls.
“We played the last two games. We played really good teams and they exposed some things and we got to learn to get better and hopefully carry that momentum,” Hoppa said.
Auburn committed seven offensive fouls and led in corner kicks 4-3 on the way to a 1-0 victory over the Florida Gators. Both teams will continue their SEC play as they prepare for matches on Thursday.
Auburn will head to Texas A&M (6-3) for more SEC play on Thursday, Sept. 26. The game begins at 7 p.m. CST and can be streamed on SECN+.
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Caroline is a sophomore majoring in journalism. She started with The Plainsman in the fall 2024.
