ATHENS, Ga. – Auburn goalkeeper Amy Howard came up with huge save after huge save and a late Georgia turnover led to the night’s only goal as the Auburn soccer team (9-7-0, 5-4-0 SEC) earned a hard-fought 1-0 win at Georgia (6-8-2, 2-5-2 SEC) on Friday night. Howard finished the night with seven saves while Tatiana Coleman’s team-leading fifth goal was the difference on the scoreboard.

 

“Amy Howard did what she needed to do to give us a chance to win,” Auburn Head Coach Karen Hoppa said. “When you play on the road in this league you are going to be under even more pressure than typically you are at home. As a goalkeeper you are never going to win the game for the team but you are going to give the team a chance to win and that’s what happened here tonight.”

 

Howard moved into second place in Auburn history and sole possession of sixth place in the SEC record books with her seven saves, giving her 333 for her career.

 

“There have been a ton of top goalkeepers to come through this conference and we play in such a tough conference that any accomplishment says a lot. I am really honored to be on the list,” Howard said. “I thought our backs played awesome. You have to give UGA credit. They found ways around us and when they did get around us we had a ton of blocked shots. We had people throwing themselves in the last six minutes to block shots. All-in-all I thought our defense played awesome.”

 

The lone goal came following a Georgia turnover deep in its own territory as Coleman stole a cross, dribbled to the top of the 18 and drilled a shot to the opposite corner of the net for her fifth goal of the season in the 84^th minute.

 

“I saw the keeper and I saw the defender, Torri Allen, right in front of me and I knew that if I shot it right and there she would have blocked it so I took one more touch and blasted it and it went in,” Coleman said. “My mentality when I came back in was to get a goal for my team.”

 

Howard was almost solely responsible for keeping Georgia off the board in the first 45 minutes, coming up with five total saves, including a couple of fantastic stops on point-blank Georgia shots. Her most impressive may have been her last as she stopped a Bella Hartley save with just over four minutes left in the half.

 

Auburn also had quality chances in the first half but could solve Georgia goalkeeper Ashley Baker, who had three saves in the half and finished with eight on the night. Mary Coffed ripped a shot right into the midsection of Baker from 10 yards out early on and then Ana Cate missed on a one-touch on the doorstep, sending it wide in the latter stages of the half.

 

Ashley Kotero’s header just a minute into the second half off of a Tori Ball corner was headed straight to the inside of the post but a pair of Georgia defenders kept the match scoreless. Just minutes later Auburn benefitted from a missed Georgia opportunity as Tori Cooper banged a shot off the post, sending a rebound right to Andie Fontanetta. Fontanetta could have walked the ball in but instead took a shot from the top of the six that went wide, keeping the match scoreless with 38 minutes left in regulation.

 

The one-goal match was the 11^th in the last 14 meetings between the team programs, with two of the others ending in a tie.

 

Auburn remains on the road for Sunday’s match as it travels to Arkansas for a 1pm kickoff at Fayetteville.

 

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