University of Georgia Athletics
Georgia Soccer Celebrates Senior Night Friday
October 19, 2006 | Soccer
Georgia-Auburn Game Notes
ATHENS, Ga. --- The University of Georgia soccer team (8-7-0, 3-5-0 SEC) will host the Auburn Tigers (9-3-3, 3-2-2 SEC) Friday evening at the Turner Soccer Complex. The team will celebrate Senior Night as nine seniors represent UGA on their home pitch for the final time. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. with Senior Night festivities beginning at approximately 6:50. Admission to all Georgia Soccer home matches is free of charge.
"Friday night we will say goodbye to a very special group of seniors," said Georgia head coach Patrick Baker. “We have to give a lot of credit to this class in terms of how it came here, what it has gone through and the way these girls continue to represent us on and off the field so well. We all wish we could have sent them off on a little better note thus far, but we have a great opportunity to send them off with a win on Friday night. Six of these players I have known since the day I came here, and then Brown, Church and Vierling made huge impacts upon transferring here from their respective institutions. We will lose a lot in a lot of different areas when they graduate. Hopefully we can play a few more games with them before that happens."
Coming off of another home weekend in which the Bulldogs had to win on Sunday to earn a split of the two games, Georgia is looking to turn around its Friday-night luck on Senior Night. Auburn is fresh off of a 1-0-1 weekend as the Tigers beat LSU on Friday night in Baton Rouge by a 2-1 score, then tied Arkansas on Sunday in Fayetteville, 0-0. Georgia leads the all-time series between these two teams, 7-3-1. In their last five matches, the Bulldogs and Tigers have played to an even 2-2-1 record.
"Auburn is having a tremendous season, they have gotten some quality results in the conference and in non-conference play," said Baker. "As it traditionally has been, it will probably be a very exciting and close game. Both teams have a lot to gain if they are successful. We understand and appreciate the position they are in and I’m sure they understand where we are as well. A lot of our players know each other and have played together before, both teams are fairly young but have a lot of talented seniors, and both teams are pretty banged up, so there are a lot of similarities. It should be a great night under the lights for our last regular season home game."
Recent history in this matchup has favored the road team. The home team has not won a game in this series since 1999. In 2005, Georgia won at Auburn; 2004, they tied in Athens; 2003, AU won at a neutral site; 2002, Auburn won in Athens; 2001, Georgia won at Auburn but lost at a neutral site. The last time the home team won in this series was a 4-0 win by the Bulldogs on Sept. 12, 1999.
Friday's final home game of the season marks the last time this senior class will play in front of its home crowd. This senior class has been a part of the second-best turnaround in SEC history, leading the Bulldogs from a 4-9-5 mark in 2004 to a 12-6-2 record in 2005 and a return to the SEC Tournament. Also in 2005, this year’s seniors played integral roles in the school-record setting defensive effort, allowing just 10 goals on the season. In 2003, these seniors were members of a Georgia squad that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The seniors also set an example in the classroom as the team earned the NSCAA Team Academic Award for maintaining a GPA of 3.0 or higher every year since 2003.
Georgia Soccer closes out its season on the road. The Bulldogs head to Tuscaloosa, Ala. for a 2 p.m. eastern matchup with Alabama Friday, Oct. 22. UGA’s last game of the regular season will be Friday, Oct. 27 at Tennessee.
