Freshman midfielder Fernanda Piña scored her second goal of the season in the 55^th minute of play, but it was not enough as the LSU Soccer team dropped a 3-1 decision to SEC West rival Auburn on Friday night at the LSU Soccer Stadium.

The Tigers (4-3-3, 0-2-1 SEC) suffered their third-straight defeat in the series as Auburn (5-5, 1-2) picked up its first win in SEC play this season.

With the home side trailing 2-0 coming out of the halftime break, Piña pulled one back in the 55^th minute when senior Carlie Banks drew Auburn’s center backs out at the top of the box and played Piña in behind one-on-one with goalkeeper Amy Howard. Piña took a touch and fired a 10-yard strike inside the right post to cut the Auburn lead to 2-1 at the 54:05 mark.

Piña emerged from the match as the team’s leading scorer on the campaign with seven points while netting two goals and dishing out a team-leading three assists for the season.

But it only took three minutes for Auburn to take a two-goal lead once again when striker Tori Ball scored unassisted in the 58^th minute on a class run into the area as she battled one of LSU’s center backs for position and buried a strike from the top of the six-yard box at the 57:27 mark to provide the final margin of 3-1.

The visitors struck twice in the first half to take a commanding 2-0 lead into the break.

Midfielder Mary Coffed scored the breakthrough in the 31^st minute of play with a strike from 14 yards off the right post and into the back of the net following a centering pass from Tatiana Coleman at the 30:38 mark. Coleman then pushed the Auburn lead to 2-0 in the 41^st minute when she buried a shot inside the left post from the top of the box.

The Tigers wrap up their 10-game homestand on Sunday as they play host to the 18^th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats in a match that is set to kick off at 1 p.m. CT at the LSU Soccer Stadium. The Tigers will then go on the road for the first time in SEC play next week as they face Mississippi State in Starkville on Sept. 28 and Georgia in Athens on Sept. 30.

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