Florida Runs Away With SEC Tournament Championship 3-0 Over Auburn
ORANGE BEACH, Ala. - The
Auburn soccer team's run to a second straight Southeastern Conference
Tournament Championship came up just short as it fell, 3-0, to No. 10
and top-seeded Florida on Sunday afternoon.
"I am really proud of our team," Auburn Head Coach Karen Hoppa said.
"No one thought we would even get here and the run we made in this
tournament was phenomenal. Overall the tournament was the best soccer
we played all year and that's what we want to do in the postseason."
Auburn (12-10-1), which came in as the sixth seed, advanced past No. 19
Tennessee on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals after playing 110
minutes of scoreless soccer and then upset No. 12 and second-seeded
Texas A&M, 2-0, before falling to the overall conference champion
on Sunday.
Florida's (17-4-1) Adriana Leon scored what would ultimately be the
game-winner in the 27th minute as Havana Solaun found Leon slicing
through the Auburn back line. Leon was then 1v1 with Howard and beat
the Auburn goalkeeper for her fifth goal of the season for a 1-0 lead.
SEC Tournament MVP Erika Tymrak, who had started the play on the first
goal, again hooked up with Solaun on Florida's second goal. Solaun took
a Holly King cross at the top of the box and passed back to Tymrak, who
fired from 20 yards out to just inside the post for her eighth tally of
the season and a 2-0 Florida lead in the 31st minute.
"This is the best Florida team I have ever seen and one of the best
teams in the country. Unfortunately our goal was to keep it 0-0 at the
half and they scored two great goals," Hoppa said. "I was really proud
of our effort in the second half. We really came after them. We said we
are not going to sit on this, we are not going to give up. We came
after them, we had chances and if we punched one of those in it is a
different second half.
Auburn took six of its nine total shots in the second half, putting
four of them on frame, but could not solve Florida goalkeeper Taylor
Burke, who finished with five saves.
Florida iced the game in the 70th minute when Solaun and Tymrak hooked
up again, this time Solaun finishing off a Tymrak pass for her seventh
goal of the season and a 3-0 Florida lead.
"Obviously we didn't get the automatic bid tonight so we have to get an
at-large bid, which I think we have done enough to do," Hoppa said.
"Our league is certainly good enough to get six teams into the NCAA
Tournament. Hopefully we have a lot more soccer left to play this year."
At the conclusion of the match Howard, Tatiana Coleman and Mary Nicholson were all named to the SEC All-Tournament team.
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