AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn fell to Memphis, 2-0, in its first exhibition of the 2021 season Tuesday night at the Auburn Soccer Complex.
After both defenses held strong for the majority of the contest, a pair of late goals in the 86th and 89th minutes was the difference for the visiting Tigers.
Auburn was able to get 24 players into the game, including eight who stepped in between the white lines for the first time in the orange and blue.
"It's great to have exhibition games again," head coach Karen Hoppa said. "We didn't have them last year. We went right from a really long preseason straight into SEC play, so to be able to have this game and play an outside opponent, a really quality opponent in Memphis, it was great for us to get a lot of people some minutes and solve from problems and learn."
The Tigers fired off seven shots and took eight corner kicks in the match, but only two shots ended up on frame. A free kick from Sydnie Thibodaux in the 69th minute nearly got the scoring started, but the right-footed strike from outside the 18-yard box sailed just over the crossbar.
Maddie Prohaska played all 90 minutes in net and made six saves before allowing the pair of late goals off a rebound that hit the post and a well-placed shot from just outside the 18.
The Tigers close out the preseason slate with the second and final exhibition at Mercer Saturday at 5 p.m. CT at Betts Stadium.