BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Freshmen Mallory Mooney and Maddie Prohaska earned Southeastern Conference weekly honors after defeating Virginia Tech, 4-1, in the regular season finale Saturday.
Mooney was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week and Prohaska earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors. It's the first weekly honor of Mooney's career and the fourth for Prohaska this season.
"Our team had an outstanding performance on Saturday against a quality ACC team with Mallory leading the offensive charge and Maddie leading a strong defensive effort," head coach Karen Hoppa said. "We are thrilled to see both of them recognized by the league."
Mooney recorded a second half hat trick in a span of 11:35 to become Auburn's first player to score a hat trick since All-American Casie Ramsier at the 2016 SEC Tournament.
"Mallory scoring a hat trick in about 12 minutes against a quality team is incredible," Hoppa said. "Each goal, she made a perfectly timed run and a perfectly placed finish."
Her first goal came in the 71st minute and broke a 1-1 tie, proving to be the second game winner of her career. The freshman midfielder scored her next two goals 1:12 apart to put the game out of reach in the late stages and complete the hat trick.
The hat trick was the 13th in program history and the first by an Auburn freshman since 2011. Mooney is now tied for the team lead with five goals and 14 points this season.
As she has done all year, Prohaska played an instrumental role in goal in Auburn's 4-1 win against Virginia Tech, marking the first defeat of the spring for the Hokies.
"Maddie had another great performance with seven saves and cleanly handled a bunch of crosses," Hoppa added. "She has been outstanding for us in goal all year."
The West Chester, Ohio, native allowed the lone goal in the 28th minute – just the third goal allowed in eight contests this spring – but buckled down to make six of her seven saves in the second half. With Prohaska turning away the Virginia Tech attack, Auburn's offense scored four unanswered goals to claim the victory in the regular season finale.
