No. 13 Auburn women’s soccer (13-1-4) played the Georgia Bulldogs (7-4-6) Thursday night at the Auburn Soccer Complex in their final home game of the season. They battled to a 2-2 tie.
Auburn looked to be headed home with a victory before a last-second goal by Georgia that tied the game with 25 seconds remaining.
“The effort tonight was great, obviously Georgia has some great attacking players and scored some great goals,” Auburn Head Coach Karen Hoppa said after the game. “Really unfortunate for our team not to be able to close that out. I thought we created a lot of chances and there's a lot to learn from here.”
The game started poorly for Auburn after Georgia Midfielder Nicole Vernis laid a shot into the bottom right of the goal, one minute and 46 seconds into the game.
The Tigers didn't take long to respond, however, when midfielder Anna Haddock laced a shot off her left foot into the goal in the 12th minute of game time.
The game would remain tied for the next 58 minutes until a foul against Georgia’s Dasia Torbet in the penalty area set up a Mallory Mooney goal off a penalty kick.
The goal looked to seal the victory for Auburn before Vernis scored her second goal of the game right before the clock expired.
It felt good, It was a little nerve-wracking,” Mooney said regarding her penalty kick. “I knew where I was shooting, and I just hit it hard and it went, so it was great.”
Both teams finished the game tied in total shots with 10 and shots on goal with seven, Auburn's Maddie Prohaska ending with three saves and Georgias Jordan Brown with five.
Haddock and Mooney each registered two shots on goal, and midfielders Becky Contreras, Sydney Thibodaux, and Olivia Candelino each added one.
The Tigers played a clean game only getting called for six fouls, as opposed to their season average of nine fouls per match.
Auburn failed to capitalize on a few key opportunities including two yellow cards assessed to Georgia and two attacks that were called off due to an offside.
Despite those mistakes and allowing a very early goal, which could have set an early tone, the Tigers showed a lot of resilience as they have all season.
The Tigers went undefeated at home this season going 8-0-3, including two ranked wins over top-20 opponents.
This season marked a record for the Tigers in home attendance as they saw more support than usual, with packed stands on multiple occasions including against Georgia.
"We’ve had unbelievable attendance this year, some of the best in my time here. Tonight's crowd was amazing, and we wanted to play for them tonight,” Coach Hoppa said. “I think that was a huge part of our team's effort, just wanted to represent Auburn and make the Auburn family proud.”
Auburn will go on the road Sunday afternoon to face No. 22 South Carolina, for its final game of the regular season with a chance to secure a bye in the SEC tournament. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. CST at Stone Stadium.
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Luke McClure is a senior from Huntsville, Alabama, majoring in sports production. He joined The Plainsman in fall 2023.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @lukemcclure0
