Auburn, Ala. – Auburn soccer kicked off the preseason with a 4-1 victory over Georgia Southern on Tuesday.
Originally slated for Monday evening, the exhibition game saw a 2-0 run from the Tigers before halted by inclement weather. Both squads resumed play Tuesday, when Auburn sealed the victory.
"It's really nice this early in camp to be able to play an outside opponent," Tigers head coach Karen Hoppa said. "We learned a lot of things about our team. We did some things really well, and there are certainly some areas we can improve upon, but most importantly it was great to get minutes. We appreciate Georgia Southern coming and staying overnight so that we were able to finish the game today."
Junior midfielder Anna Haddock tallied both of the Tigers' goals in Monday's period. The Bowling Green, Kentucky native fired up the offense in the 21st minute as she found the back of the net with a shot off the left foot after a pair of passes from senior Sydney Richards and freshman Hayden Colson.
Just seven minutes later, Haddock doubled the Auburn lead with a strike off the right foot into the left upper 90. The goal was assisted by senior forward Olivia Candelino.
"I think we got off to a really good start," Haddock said. "It felt good to be back with everyone. Our offense clicked from the beginning, which is something that used to take a while to happen, so I'm really excited to see what we can do this season."
Coming out hot in the middle frame, graduate student Sabrina McNeill used a pass from junior Maddie Simpson to find the back of the net just 24 seconds into the period, pushing the Auburn lead to three.
"It feels surreal that my first touches with the ball started with a goal," McNeill said. "I just want to build on that and continue to score and set up chances for my team."
Georgia Southern was able to get on the scoresheet after converting a penalty kick from Ellie McIntyre into a goal in the 58th minute of play.
In the 73rd minute, Candelino tallied the Tigers' fourth and final goal of the match after controlling a deflection from redshirt junior Marissa Arias to find the low left corner of the net.
As an offense, the Tigers mustered 20 total shots to Georgia Southern's four. The Auburn defense also proved fruitful as the Eagles were only able to place two shots on goal. Freshman goalkeeper Taylor Richards picked up the lone Auburn save of the contest.
The Tigers return to action Saturday with their final preseason exhibition at the University of Memphis. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. CT.
