Auburn advances to the SEC Tournament semi-finals with a 2-1 win over South Carolina

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – Auburn soccer advanced to the first semi-finals of the SEC Tournament then with a 2016 win of 2-1 against South Carolina on Tuesday night at the Orange Beach Sportsplex.

The win marks Auburn’s first game against Gamecocks since 2012, and will lead to a semi-final showdown with top-ranked Arkansas (15-3-0) on Thursday at 5 p.m. CT.

“What a great performance from our team,” head coach Karen Hoppa said. “It was overall teamwork. I thought the speed of the game was excellent. We scored two great goals, we created a lot of opportunities. Eventually, when they got a penalty kick, we stood strong in the defense.”

The win is Tigers ’(12-5-1) second result against South Carolina (11-6-1) in as many SEC Tournament matches that have previously advanced in penalty kicks against Gamecocks in 2015.

I Craven and Sydney Richards The score made in the race, while four Tigers Anna Haddock, Rocio Sanders, Olivia Candelino and Marissa Arias rushed in with feeds.

“It was just a great feeling for all of us,” Craven said. “Our control finally started to unite. I think it was the best game we’ve played, so it was just exciting.”

On the other hand, a second-year goalkeeper Maddie Prohaska and Auburn’s back line kept South Carolina in the scoring during the game, and only released a penalty kick, allowing the Gamecocks to reach within one.

“It was great, but this is just the beginning,” Prohaska said of the victory. “My back line was excellent. They had my back and I had them. That’s really what makes a great back line and a great goalkeeper when we understand each other and are able to pick each other up.”

With the clock turning halfway, Auburn went 1-0 lead in Craven’s third goal of the year. The senior defender got his right foot on the ball on the six-yard line and sneaked past the South Carolina goalkeeper to start the goal. Haddock gave Sanders a free kick, and Craven finished it off.

Continuing their pace at halftime, Tigers pushed forward to start the second verse and fired three shots in the first 12 minutes when there were only two in the first half. The fourth shot of the team found the net in the back when Richards buried the goalkeeper after leaving his line. Candelino and Arias played just fine, and Arias eventually left it to Richards, who finished right from the top of the box.

“It was huge,” Richards said of taking the 2-0 lead. “We really needed it. We wouldn’t have won that game without it. It’s good we had another padding (cord).”

After 2 minutes, Auburn got through on the right and was very close to equalizing for the home side, but didn’t get the shot away. However, Prohaska and the Tigers defensive unit bowed and allowed only one shot in the last 19 minutes.

Prohaska recorded his first fight at the dive company less than four minutes after the race and eventually dropped five fights while playing several other games that did not appear in the Leaderboard.

“He was excellent, one of his best performances so far during his young career,” Hoppa added from Prohaska.

Auburn was effective in his attack when the Tigers shot three of eight shots to the finish and two past the South Carolina goalkeeper.

The Six Tigers recorded all 90 minutes and 16 players finally saw action in the race.