Ana Cate had an assist on each of Auburn’s goals in its 3-0 win over Arkansas on Sunday afternoon which improved the team’s record to 11-4-1, 5-3-0 SEC. For Cate it capped a remarkable weekend in which she had a goal and four assists as Auburn picked up a pair of wins in the SEC West race.

 

“You have to give Ana Cate a lot of credit. She helped create all three of the goals,” Auburn Head Coach Karen Hoppa said. “Arkansas man-marked Katy (Frierson) and tried to take her out of the game. The good thing is we have good enough support around Katy that can hurt you, and that showed up today.”

 

Maddie Barnes opened the scoring for Auburn in the 24^th minute as Cate one-touched a Tatiana Coleman cross to Barnes, who one-touched it between the goalkeepers hands and the crossbar for the early 1-0 lead. The goal was the first of the season for Barnes and she became the 13^th different Auburn player to score a goal this season.

 

Cate again played a crucial role in Auburn’s second goal as the Auburn offense assaulted the Arkansas six just a minute into the second half. A trio of shots caused a collection of Auburn players to be inside the six, but it was Katy Frierson who got the last touch, firing in her fifth goal of the season, and the second of the weekend. The goal also upped her career point total to 94, putting her just three shy of tying the school record.

 

Auburn salted the game away in the 86^th minute as Cate found Tess Patton uncovered in the midfield. Patton then dribbled up to just outside the 18 before slotting a perfect pass to Tatiana Coleman, who finished it off with her sixth goal of the season.

 

“It was great finishing by everyone else. They did the hard part, I just gave them the ball,” Cate said.

 

Auburn fired off a season-high 31 shots on the afternoon, putting 14 of them on frame, while Arkansas (4-11-0, 2-6-0 SEC) was held to just 13 shots, with only three of them going on frame, all of which were stopped by Auburn goalkeeper Amy Howard.

 

The win keeps Auburn one game behind SEC West leader LSU in the race for the division crown. Each team has four matches remaining, with Auburn playing host to Georgia on Thursday at 7pm and LSU hosting South Carolina at the same time to start the four-match stretch.

 

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