Auburn soccer enjoyed cooler temperatures over the weekend in New York and will return home with two more wins to its record.
The Tigers set the tone early in Thursday’s match at Syracuse (1-2) while storming back to erase an early Army (0-3-1) deficit to extend their record to 3-0-1 on the young season.
Auburn opened the weekend by taking down Syracuse, 2-1. The Tigers scored the first goal of the game in the 24th minute when a shot by [autotag]Anna Haddock[/autotag] was deflected by the Orange goalkeeper. The recoil allowed [autotag]Marissa Arias[/autotag] to score from inside the goal area.
Auburn’s second goal of the match was off of a corner kick by [autotag]Mallory Mooney[/autotag]. The ball bounced off several players before [autotag]LJ Knox[/autotag] finally delivered the ball through the net in the 60th minute. Syracuse’s lone score came in the 67th minute.
“It was our first game against a Power-5 team, and I thought we really battled well against a tough Syracuse squad,” Auburn head coach [autotag]Karen Hoppa[/autotag] said. “We had some good runs of play, created a lot of chances, and scored two good goals. Unfortunately, we gave up one late, which made it stressful down the stretch, but our team did a good job managing the game out, so we’re thrilled to walk out of here with a win.”
Auburn’s second match of the weekend was a back-and-forth affair. Army scored its first goal in the 24th minute and would hold two different leads in the match, but Auburn scored the final two goals in the 2nd half to earn the 3-2 victory.
“It wasn’t our best soccer, but the girls found a way to win. That’s what I’m really proud of,” Hoppa said of the win over Army. “We knew Army would be tough and physical, but we fought hard, and we got it done versus a great team in a tough environment.”
The Tigers got help in the 50th minute when an own goal by Army tied the game at 2-2. Auburn would score the winning goal just 11 minutes later on a shot by Haddock from just inside the penalty area.
“This was a really big weekend on the road for us, but our goal was always to come out with six points,” Haddock said after the game. “We toughed it out and got it done. Really great fight and response and an overall great defensive effort from the whole team today.”
Auburn returns home this week to host Wake Forest (3-0-1) and American (0-2-1) at the Auburn Soccer Complex. The Tigers and Demon Deacons square off on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. CT, with Auburn hosting American on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. CT. Both matches can be streamed on SEC Network+.
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