By: Jose Sanchez

            The Auburn Tigers did what no other team in the SEC could against the Florida Gators: beat them twice in the season. The Tigers used their defensive solidity to put an end to the Southeastern Conference Tournament champions’ season with a 3-1 win.

            The first half between the Tigers and the Gators was a reflection of what their previous game was in the regular season. The Gators went back to the 4-2-3-1 lineup, but with a particular change: Sarah Troccoli played as an attacking midfielder. She managed the role very well. Troccoli pulled the strings of the interior and distributed the ball to both wings. Mayra Pelayo, once again, was the one who created more danger in the last third of the pitch. Her crafty ball-control made her mark struggled throughout the first 20 minutes of the game. In the 26th minute, Kristen Dodson dragged three rivals through the interior. Julia Lester deflected the ball from Dodson, but it bounced right in front of Brooke Ramsier. The midfielder controlled the ball with her chest and scored a volley with her right foot.

            After 15 minutes in the second half, the Tigers started to be more confident about their game plan on the pitch. They deployed a solid 4-3-2-1 that was especially focus on taking Savannah Jordan and Meggie Dougherty Howard away from the ball. The Tigers center defender duo — Karli Gutsche and Kiana Clarke — stood out when marking Jordan. Both defenders boxed her out of the area several times in the second half. Meanwhile, the trio of midfielders — Ramsier, Courtney Schell and Gianna Montini — switched the marking job when covering Dougherty Howard. The Gator midfielder could not find the way to give a better transition to the ball nor open spaces for her teammates. In the 60th minute, Dodson drove the ball in a counter-attack, in which she found three Gator defenders unbalanced. Rachelle Smith went back as fast as she could but was not able to stop Dodson properly. She committed a foul on the Tiger forward that cost her a red card and a penalty for the visitors. Bri Folds scored the penalty kick to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.

            Fortunately for the Gators, Brooke Sharp gave the life back to her team and fans in the stands. Sharp dribbled and scored inside the box after being assisted by Troccoli. Despite having just 10 players on the field, the Gators seemed to take back the momentum and pushed back the Tigers inside their area. The opportunities started to appear all over the place for the Gators; especially on the left wing, in which Melanie Monteagudo, Kit Loferski and Jordan made a triangle to pass the ball among each other and drag the full-back out of her position. But it was not enough for the Gators. And that seemed clear when Dodson scored on a counter attack in the 85^th minute. She saw that Kaylan Marckese was far from her net and did not hesitate to send a long ball and put an end to the Gators’ season.

            The Auburn Tigers will travel to Los Angeles to face the USC Trojans in the quarterfinals, on Nov. 25, at 4 p.m. ET.    

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