AUBURN, Ala. – No. 22 Auburn (8-3-0, 2-2-0 SEC) caps off a stretch of three road games in the last four contests with a SEC West matchup at Mississippi State (3-4-3, 1-2-1 SEC) Thursday at 6:30 p.m. CT in Starkville, Miss.
"They're going to be dangerous," head coach Karen Hoppa said of Mississippi State. "They're coming off a really big win at home where they drew a huge crowd. It's going to be a challenge for sure."
The game will be available for streaming on SEC Network+.
STARTING XI
The Tigers are 2-2-0 on the road this season and will be looking for the first road win in conference play after hard-fought losses at Tennessee and South Carolina.
Auburn went on a program-record 11-game winning streak from the end of last spring to the start of this season and is 14-4-1 in 19 games since the start of last spring.
The team is outscoring opponents 28-11 this season and 44-14 in the last 19 games and has scored multiple goals in 12 of the last 14 games.
Auburn ranks in the top five in the SEC and the top 30 in the NCAA in goals (28), assists (32) and points (88).
Sophomore midfielder Anna Haddock leads the team with 20 points on eight goals and four assists, ranking tied for third in the SEC in goals and fifth in points.
Haddock joins Bri Folds - 20 points through nine games in 2018 - as the only other Auburn player of the last 10 seasons to record 20 points in the first 11 games of the season.
Auburn checked in at No. 22 in this week's coaches' poll, marking the seventh straight week the team has appeared in the top 25.
All of Auburn's first four SEC contests came against teams either ranked or receiving votes in the coaches' poll.
Auburn leads its series against Mississippi State, 17-5-3, but the series between the Tigers and Bulldogs in Starkville is tied, 5-5-1.
PLAYER TO WATCH: ALYSSA MALONSON
Playing a new position since the start of SEC play, Malonson has continued to excel on both ends of the field.
The fifth-year senior has continued to play and start in every game (88) since stepping foot on campus in 2017, ranking third in program history in career matches started and consecutive matches started.
She most recently scored her second goal of the season and fourth of her career while also contributing to another in the team's comeback effort at South Carolina.
SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE
Coming off a 1-0 win against Kentucky last week, Mississippi State enters the weekend with a 3-4-3 overall record and 1-2-1 mark in SEC play.
The Bulldogs have turned in four shutouts in 10 contests and are led in goal by sophomore Maddy Anderson, who has played every minute and turned in a 0.94 goals against average.
Offensively, Mississippi State is led by junior midfielder Onyi Echegini, who leads the way with six points on two goals and two assists.
Freshman Ally Perry is the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week after assisting on the game-winning goal against Kentucky.
UP NEXT
Auburn returns to the Plains for the first time in two weeks and plays host to LSU (8-3-0, 1-2-0 SEC) Sunday at 2 p.m. CT at the Auburn Soccer Complex.
