Auburn (11-5-1, 3-5-1 SEC) fell behind early and couldn’t overcome the deficit in a 3-1 loss at Arkansas (11-3-3, 6-2-1 SEC) Sunday afternoon at Razorback Field.
Angeline Daly accounted for the scoring for the Tigers while Bri Folds chipped in with her seventh assist and 23rd point of the season.
“We just started out slow,” head coach Karen Hoppa said. “We need to be better at the beginning of the game. We need to be ready to go. We had a much better effort in the second half, but it was too little, too late.”
Arkansas got on the scoreboard in the fourth minute, and the Razorbacks doubled the lead after a defensive breakdown in the 23rd minute.
After hanging tough for the remainder of the first half, Auburn came out of intermission as the aggressor, getting off a pair of shots in the opening minutes of action. The Tigers cut the lead to one as Daly scored with the left foot from just outside the 18-yard box in the 61st minute. It was her fifth goal of the season and first in conference play.
However, two minutes later, Arkansas increased its lead back to two after a corner kick was jostled around inside the six-yard box and put into the back of the net.
Auburn created chances in the second half, outshooting the Razorbacks 12-10, but time ran out before the team had any more chances to cut into the lead.
Sixteen players saw action for the Tigers, including six who played all 90 minutes. Redshirt senior goalkeeper Sarah Le Beau made her 84th consecutive start in goal and broke the SEC record for consecutive starts by a goalkeeper this week.
“We need to regroup, get fresh and play better from the kickoff,” Hoppa added.
The Tigers wrap up the regular season with the Iron Bowl of Soccer against Alabama (8-7-2, 2-5-1 SEC) scheduled for Thursday at 8 p.m. CT. The game can be heard on WEGL 91.1 FM or online at weglfm.com.
