AUBURN Ala. — Another tough road test awaits Auburn soccer as the Tigers head to West Virginia for a 6 p.m. CT matchup Thursday, Sept. 7 at Dick Dlesk Stadium. It's homecoming week for senior Sammie Brown as the Mountaineers are led by her mother, head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown.
"West Virginia is always tough," head coach Karen Hoppa said. "As long as Nikki (Izzo-Brown) has been there, they've never had a losing season. We expect them to come out and play their best soccer versus us Thursday night. We're going to get the best version of them. They're hungry for a win, which makes them dangerous."
Auburn makes the return trip to WVU after the Mountaineers came to The Plains for a match last season. Neither team walked out on top as the game ended in a scoreless tie. This year, the Tigers return 7 of 11 starters from the match and 12 total players who saw a combined 671 minutes. All of the women responsible for Auburn's 13 shots last year are back this week. Defensively, the Orange & Blue backline that held the Mountaineers without a shot on-goal will have two of its four starters back as well as goalkeeper Maddie Prohaska.
This season, West Virginia is 2-1 at home and 2-4 overall. Three of the Mountaineers' four losses have come against ranked opponents. Last week, they fell 2-1 at No. 12 Virginia and 3-1 at Liberty. Taylor White leads the attack with three goals and an assist and Kayza Massey calls the defense as the starting goalkeeper with 17 saves and a 1.64 goals against average.
Auburn enters the match at 4-1-1 following a 2-0 loss to Wake Forest and a 3-0 win against American. Depth was a friend to the Tigers in the win as four of the five players to record a goal or an assist came off the bench. Freshman Olivia Woodson scored in minutes 38 and 75 to notch the first goals and game-winner of her career. Redshirt-freshman Dylan Driver also netted the first goal of her tenure in the 44th minute. The Tigers have now found offensive production from five first-time scorers this season.
Thursday's match will be available to stream on ESPN+. Radio coverage will also be available via U92 The Moose.
