AUBURN, Ala. – Number 13 Auburn (7-0-0) defeated 17th ranked Ohio State (4-1-1) 1-0 Saturday at the Auburn Soccer Complex, stretching their winning streak to seven games and setting a program record for the most games in a row with a shutout.
Last year the Tigers only scored 26 total goals in an 8-7-5 season that ended in the SEC Tournament. This year they have been an entirely different beast. Auburn has yet to concede a single goal all season while scoring 28 goals of their own. This team has been hot, and they have not shown many signs of slowing down anytime soon.
After an early scare by the Buckeyes was called off for offside, Auburn did everything in the first half. Well, everything except put the ball in the back of the net. The Tigers outshot Ohio State 8-0, with three shots on net, but none of them found their way past OSU goalkeeper Molly Pritchard. Both the Buckeyes and Tigers went into the break scoreless, 0-0.
Auburn continued to put pressure on Ohio State early in the second half, and finally they were able to break through. The ball found the feet of Olivia Woodson, who turned and put her boot to it and found the top left past the outstretched arms of Pritchard. Woodson’s sixth goal of the year was enough for the Tigers, who latched down the hatches on defense, earning the 1-0 victory.
Olivia Woodson made the play of the game, scoring the game winner in the 48th minute. Her shot was perfectly placed in a part of the goal that no one was going to cover. When asked if that was her intention, Woodson responded, “I think I did it on purpose, I think in practice I try a lot to get it around. So, that was just practice, yeah.”
Depth played a massive part in the Tigers win, with 18 players playing significant minutes for Auburn. Coach Karen Hoppa commented, “This is the most depth I think we’ve ever had in Auburn history, as far as the quality.”
Auburn set a program record in straight shutouts at 7 clean sheets in a row. When asked what it was like to be the goalkeeper for that team, Maddie Prohaska said, “This is just a testament to all the work we’ve done the past five years. This isn’t just one year's worth of work, it’s a lot of hard work put in together.”
“A huge test. It’s a great result. We’ve felt that we’ve gotten some really good results but not against top-25 teams such as Clemson, so it was a great result for us.” Coach Hoppa said.
Auburn looks to improve their win streak to eight this Friday, September 13 at the Auburn Soccer Complex as they take on Old Dominion at 6:30 p.m. CDT. You can listen to the game on WEGL 91.1 FM or watch the game live, streaming on SECN+.
