On the night of Oct. 14, during a celebration of 30 years of Aggie soccer, the Aggies defeated the Auburn Tigers 3-1 at Ellis Field.
“It means so much to me because all those players played for me for all 30 years,” coach G Guerrieri said.
Sophomore defender Quinn Cornog in the 28th minute narrowly escaped a foul that would have resulted in a penalty kick. Cornog managed back-to-back saves in the Aggies’ defending goal box.
Auburn’s junior forward Maddie Simpson scored in the bottom left corner of senior goalkeeper Kenna Caldwell’s goal in the 31st minute with an assist by redshirt Tiger sophomore midfielder Grace Sklopan.
“We are just going to keep that mental toughness,” sophomore forward Maile Hayes said.
Caldwel’s free kick from within the center circle in the 42nd minute missed the top of junior goalkeeper Maddie Prohaska’s goal by a hair.
Straight from the locker room and a huddle, the Aggie’s started off with strong offensive pressure at the top of the second half.
“It was night and day between the first half and the second half,” sophomore defender and forward Mia Pante said.
Hayes dribbled the final inches of the field and shot just behind Simpson in the 48th minute. The goal was assisted by junior midfielder Kate Colvin and sophomore midfielder Carissa Boeckmann.
In the 70th minute, Auburn’s freshman defender Hayden Colson committed a foul in the semicircle right outside of her own defensive goalbox. Freshman midfielder Sydney Becerra stood over the ball, but ultimately it went over the bar.
Hayes took the Tiger’s goalie one-on-one and put it right past her in the 88th minute with assists by Colvin and freshman defender Carolyn Calzada.
With eight seconds remaining in the game, Boeckmann scored with an assist by Pante to seal the game.
Aggie soccer will attempt to continue its win streak against South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. on Thursday, Oct. 20 at 6 p.m. on the SEC Network.