The No. 14 Auburn Tigers traveled to Knoxville, TN to deliver the Volunteers' first home loss of the season in an absolute soccer thriller Sunday afternoon.
Every minute counts, especially in the closing moments of the game. Midfielder Sydnie Thibodaux is the player who sealed the deal for the Tigers, having now scored her fourth goal of the season. Thibodaux scored the game-winning goal in the final 10 minutes of the match, sending Auburn to a 3-2 victory.
The goal from Thibodaux was an all-around team effort. As, midfielder Anna Haddock used her speed and footwork to get past Vol defenders, ultimately sending it to Thibodaux for her to find the left upper corner of the goal. Haddock's assist was her 42nd of her career, matching the program record for assists.
“That was extremely exciting,” Thibodaux said. “I knew that was going to give us a really good chance to finally win the game. It was so tight between both teams, but we knew if we kept at it, something would fall our way. It felt great to be the one to get it done for my teammates.”
Thibodaux wasn’t the only Tiger to score in this back-and-forth match, forward Olivia Woodson scored two goals in the match, now having 10 this season.
Woodson had the first goal of the match in the 21st minute, where the Volunteers responded 14 minutes later, evening the score. At halftime, the score was at 1-1.
However, coming out of the locker room, Woodson was ready to battle.
She scored her second goal of the match, earning her fourth brace of her career. She now leads the league with 10 goals scored on this season.
“This is an exciting team win,” Woodson said. “We had a great feeling about today, and the vibes were good, so we were ready to get out there and just play our game. Tennessee is a great opponent, so it fuels us with even more confidence to know we can get a win against a team like that on the road.”
Scoring three goals this match, the Tigers have now scored 44 on the season which currently holds the record from any Tiger squad since 2016.
With the SEC tournament a few weeks away, this win allows the Tigers to go to 12-1-2 overall, while now being 4-1-2 in the SEC. The Tigers have four more matches to solidify their spot in the tournament.
“What a gutsy performance by the entire team,” head coach Karen Hoppa said. “We faced a lot of adversity in the match, clearly, with injuries and losing the lead twice. For us to come back twice and finish that game out was incredible. It was a terrific, gutsy performance by this team.”
Next, the Tigers will travel to Lexington, KY to take on the Kentucky Wildcats on Friday, Oct. 18 at 6:30p.m CST on the SEC Network+.
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Ginny is a junior majoring in sports production. She joined the Plainsman in the fall of 2024.
