AUBURN - Auburn goalkeeper Amy Howard turned away nine shots, but it wasn't enough as the Tigers suffered their first loss of the season, 2-1 to Missouri on Friday night in the Auburn Soccer Classic.
“Missouri had a game plan and they stuck to it,," Auburn coach Karen Hoppa said. "They played with intensity and played for things like corners and restarts and they capitalized on two of them.
“I thought we did a good job of matching their intensity, but we lost our composure for a long stretch in the second half. We couldn’t hold possession, and I think that hurt us because we couldn’t get a hold of the ball as much as we wanted to. When we did have the ball we created some great chances.”
Missouri (4-2-0) fired off 25 shots. Auburn (2-1-2) had 11.
Chelsea Yauch scored Auburn's goal, her first of the season and sixth of her career, to tie the game at 20:54. But Missouri's Krista Kruse scored the game-winner in the 76th minute.
The crowd of 1,747 was the fourth-largest in the Auburn Soccer Complex’s history.
Texas Tech (4-2-0) handed Vanderbilt (5-1-0) its first loss of the season 3-1 in the opening game of the Classic. Auburn will face Texas Tech at 2:30pm on Sunday. Vanderbilt and Missouri will play at 9 a.m.
VOLLEYBALL
Tigers blank Coastal Carolina
STATESBORO, Ga. – The Auburn volleyball team picked up a 3-0 (25-17,
26-24, 25-20) victory over Coastal Carolina on the first day of the Bash in
the ‘Boro tournament on the campus of Georgia Southern University. With
the win, the Tigers improved to 6-3 on the season.
"We did a good job serving better, which is what we wanted to do today,”
Auburn coach Wade Benson said. “Our offensive rhythm wasn’t
as sharp as we wanted and Coastal Carolina did a nice job passing.
Overall, we did a nice job overcoming a fairly average performance, and a
few individuals put together nice plays to help us win.”
Auburn freshman Katherine Culwell recorded her first double-double of
the season, picking up a career-best 15 kills and 12 digs. Junior Morgan
Johns added 10 kills, while libero Liz Crouch had 17 digs. Freshman
Sarah Bullock finished with 12 digs and a game-best three service aces.
The Chanticleers (2-5) were led by Chelsy Kimes and Amanda Russell,
having each finish with eight kills.
MEN'S GOLF
Sophomore shoots 69 on first day
DALTON, Ga. - Auburn sophomore John Stembridge fired an opening-round 69 to lead all but one golfer on the first day of the Carpet Capital Collegiate at The Farm Golf Club.
Stembridge, a Norcross, Ga., native, finished Friday in second place, just one stroke behind leader Jonathan Randolph of Ole Miss.
"I came out and made an early bogie but just kept it steady and bought back to two-under," said Stembridge. "It's a thinking man's course. You've got to find your way around some obstacles. The greens are trecherous - real fast today."
Auburn shot a 292 to finish the day in seventh, four strokes behind tournament leader and third-ranked Alabama.
