After an impressive road trip, in which the No. 11 Auburn Tigers (2-0-2) tied two great teams in the No. 2 Florida State Seminoles and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Auburn will return home to the Auburn Soccer Complex for an exciting weekend of Auburn soccer as they take on No. 21 West Virginia Mountaineers (2-1-1) on Thursday, September 1 at 6:30 pm, and the Army Black knights (1-2-1) on Sunday, September 4 at 12:00 pm.
The road trip was highlighted by Auburn goalkeeper Maddie Prohaska who earned SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors through her nine-save performance against No. 2 Florida State, and shutout against Wake Forest.
Prohaska looks to continue her great run this season, as she has yet to allow a goal through the first four games of the season, with a lone goal being scored by Florida State via penalty kick. The Auburn Goalkeeper is already fifth in School history for shutouts with 16.
Maddie Prohaska and this Auburn squad will be looking to repeat history this Thursday night as the last time Auburn played West Virginia was 20 years ago on August 30, 2002, and ended in a 2-0 victory for the Tigers.
However, it will not be easy for the Tigers as the Mountaineers are a very experienced squad as eight starters return to lead a West Virginia team that won 10 games last year and advanced to the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship. However, they can be beaten accredited to a 2-0 loss to No. 10 Penn State earlier this year.
Leading the charge for West Virginia is Jordan Brewster a fifth-year senior who was selected to the 2022 preseason All-Big 12 team.
The other big matchup this weekend will be against Army this Sunday will be the first time the Tigers have ever played the Black Knights, and thus Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa will be sure to be looking, to make a statement against the team from the Patriot League.
Army will be looking to rebound after already losing two tough games against Air Force and Colorado State but will be sure to keep Auburn on their defensive toes as they scored a goal through each of their first four games.
A player to watch this Sunday for Army is Emma Richey who was named the Patriot League’s Defensive Player of the Week during the open week playing a crucial role in a 1-1 draw against UConn at the beginning of the season.
Any way you slice it, these are must-win games for the Tigers as the start of the gauntlet of an SEC season fast approaches with the opener in Missouri on September 16.
