Auburn soccer looks to close the regular season at home with a win in order to punch its ticket to the SEC tournament versus Missouri this Sunday.
The Tigers are battling it out for the last spot with Texas A&M for the 12th seed in the SEC tournament. Auburn beat A&M 1-0 earlier in the season and now holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over them. Both teams have eight points on the year with one game left to play. Auburn, which sits at 5-5-6 on the year and 1-3-5 in SEC play, is looking to get back above .500 on the season.
The Aggies also play on Sunday against Kentucky, which is ranked in the top six in the conference. A win secures a conference tournament berth for the Tigers, while a tie or less leaves the door open for Texas A&M.
Auburn comes into this matchup after two hard-fought ties last week and is looking to break through versus Missouri, which is 4-10-2 on the year and 1-7-1 in SEC play. Mizzou is fresh off a tie against the top-ranked SEC team, Arkansas, 0-0. Prior to this, Mizzou was on a six-game losing streak and saw them lose earlier that week to Texas A&M 2-1.
The Missouri Tigers are headlined by their goalkeeper Kate Phillips, who is second in the SEC in saves for the season with 54. The Tiger defense has allowed 21 goals on the season, which is towards the bottom of the SEC.
The Tigers' offense is led by junior midfielder Olivia Chianelli, who leads the Tigers with three goals on the year, and sophomore Emily Derucki, who has four assists on the year. The Tigers are not known for their offensive firepower, ranking second-to-last in the SEC with 14 goals.
As most know by now, Auburn is star-studded up top with the co-leader in goals in the SEC in Erin Flourney, with 11, and the second leader in assists in the SEC, Dylan Driver, with seven. These two combine for one of the highest-scoring point duos in the SEC. To go along with them, you have so many great players, including Olivia Woodson, who has five goals and three assists on the season.
This year, Auburn is No. 11 in goals scored in the SEC with 26 and sixth in goals allowed with 16. The Tigers statistically have had a solid offense and pretty good defense so far this year, but haven't been able to get the points they have wanted in SEC play because of their tie for the league lead in ties with five.
As simple as it sounds, the Tigers have to finish their chances early and often because a game with this high of stakes can get very tense the closer it is and the longer it goes on.
All in all, Auburn can clinch on Sunday with a win or a Texas A&M loss. A tie would make things interesting. The SEC tournament starts Sunday, November 2nd, and lasts until November 9th.
Auburn kicks off the season finale Sunday at 2:00 pm CDT at the Auburn Soccer Complex on SEC Network+.
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