AUBURN, Ala. – Sixth-ranked Auburn scored a goal in each half as the homestanding Tigers defeated Old Dominion 2-0 in the non-conference finale for the Monarchs on Friday night.
"We are immensely proud of our performance tonight against a team that is very, very good. Auburn is #6 for a reason and have a few special players and a ton of experience. Again we showed tonight we can go toe-to-toe with the top teams, but we just need to be better in the small moments in either penalty box. Defensively we were so tough tonight and in games like this it's hard to keep that up for the whole game and I thought we did well for long spells which was really pleasing.” said ODU Head Coach Angie Hind.
The Tigers got on the board in the first half at the 17:22 mark as Carly Thatcher and Mallory Mooney found Shelby Salee down the right wing and she slid one around ODU goalkeeper Erin Jones for the early 1-0 advantage.
In the second half, Auburn put a second goal on the board as Olivia Woodson served the ball inside the box and Becky Contreras headed it in at the 61:35 mark to give the hosts a 2-0 advantage.
On the night, Auburn held a 13-6 advantage in shots and 7-1 in shots on goal. Jones made five saves for the Monarchs in the net. Yuliia Khrystiuk had the lone shot on goal for the Monarchs at 67:21 as it was stopped by goalie Maddie Prohaska.
“The thing that makes us so proud of this group right now is the mentality and desire they have, we just kept going at them. So so proud of us for not only how we played, but the mental strength and commitment we showed tonight. It's been a very good non-conference phase for us and I think we have grown a lot. Tonight’s performance against a quality side should give us a lot of positives to take into conference play next week,” Hind added.
ODU (5-3) returns home to start Sun Belt Conference play on Friday, September 20 when they entertain Coastal Carolina for Senior Night at 7 p.m.