ORANGE BEACH - For the third time in four seasons, Tennessee knocked Auburn's soccer team out of the Southeastern Conference Tournament on Wednesday.
The Lady Vols, seeded No. 6, surprised the Tigers, West Division co-champions and the No. 3 seed, 2-1. It was Auburn's third consecutive first-round SEC Tournament loss.
"It's a disappointment to lose in the first round because we are better than how we played today," Auburn coach Karen Hoppa said. "Tennessee had the emotional advantage. They lost to us 10 days ago and they had revenge in mind and wanted to come back and prove themselves. It's no excuse for us. We knew it and we have been in this situation before. We didn't bring the emotional level to start this game."
Auburn (11-8-2) had won four straight going into Wdnesday's match and now must wait to see if it will get a third consecutive bid to the NCAA Tournament.
"We should be in," Hoppa said. "Our RPI was 38th and we have a ton of quality wins, a fantastic late-season performance and we have an unbelievable strength of schedule. The SEC is a very strong league and the SEC should get at least five teams in depending on who wins this tournament. We should be fine, but you never know until your name comes up on the board."
Tennessee (9-10-0) came out firing in the first half and connected on the first shot of the game, scoring just 2:04 in when Tanya Emerson rifled a shot from the top corner of the 18 off of a feed from Devon Swaim for her first goal of the season. The goal was the quickest allowed by Auburn this season.
"We just started slow at the beginning of the game," Hoppa said. "We knew Tennessee would be playing for their NCAA lives since they are under .500 and we just started too slow. We really played the most timid half we have played in over a month."
Senior defender Jenn Johnson got Auburn's only goal on a penalty kick with 28 minutes remaining. The Tigers ourshot Tennessee 18-10.
