Preseason All-American and Hermann Trophy Watch List honoree Katy Frierson and sophomore forward Mary Coffed each had a goal and two assists, as Auburn defeated Tennessee Tech, 4-0, on Friday night to open up the 2010 season. With the offense humming the Auburn defense had a special night as well, holding Tennessee Tech to just one shot, which came in the final three minutes of the match.

Frierson, who enters the year with never before seen preseason accolades at Auburn, needed just 2:23 to put Auburn ahead and notch her 15th career goal, nailing a shot upper 90 from 30 yards out over a retreating Tennessee Tech goalkeeper for the early 1-0 lead.

“It was a great start to a season and a great start to the game,” Auburn Head Coach Karen Hoppa said. “Katy had a good look at the goal three minutes in and she did a great job of reading the keeper off the line and putting the ball on frame. To score that early gave the team a lot of confidence, which we played with the rest of the game.

“We wanted to score a lot of goals and not settle for just one or two,” Frierson said. “We wanted to keep attacking.”

Coffed answered Frierson’s goal with one of the easier tallies she will ever record in the 22nd minute. Sammy Towne gained possession in Auburn’s defensive third and pushed a pass up to Frierson.

The junior midfielder then laced a pass right down the middle of the field, allowing Tennessee Tech goalkeeper Becca Toler to come off her line to grab the loose ball but she could not put the wraps on it, allowing it to squirt free to an uncovered Coffed for a 2-0 lead.

Coming out of the break with all of the momentum, Auburn continued to pound shots at the Tennessee Tech net as Toler would face 33 shots on the night, making nine saves. One of the saves she couldn’t make was following one of Auburn’s 14 corners as Coffed served in the corner, finding the heads of Bianca Sierra and Ashley Marks, with Marks finishing with her fifth career goal and a 3-0 lead in the 58th minute.

Monica Afanador capped the scoring with a diving header inside the six off of a Frierson cross following a Coffed pass. The goal was the fourth for the senior and her first since the 2008
season.

Auburn returns to the field Friday, when it travels to Milwaukee for a match against host Marquette in the MKE Cup. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Former Auburn swimmers compete at Championships
Finishes by former Auburn swimmers Cesar Cielo and Mark Gangloff highlighted Thursday night’s competition at the 2010 Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Championships held in Irvine, Calif., at the William Woollet Jr. Aquatics Center.

Cielo, coming off a Wednesday night win in the 50 fly, finished third in the 100 free in a time of 48.48. Gideon Louw, who recently finished his senior season at Auburn, took 11th in the event in 49.13.
Gangloff, a 2004 graduate from Auburn, took third in the 100 breast with a time of 1:00.24. Fellow American and former Auburn teammate Eric Shanteau took sixth in the event in 1:00.55.

Micah Lawrence, a Pflugerville, Texas, product, reached the 100 breast consolation finals on the women’s side of competition and took 10th overall in 1:07.85. During the morning session, Lawrence broke her own Auburn long course record after touching the wall in 1:07.62. She enters her junior season at Auburn as the 2010 SEC champion in the 100y breast.

Also competing on Thursday was former swimmer George Bovell and rising sophomore Hannah Riordan.

Bovell, representing Trinidad and Tobago, finished 15th in the 50 back (26.31) and 29th in the 100 free (50.20).

Riordan, a Cornwall, Ontario, native, was 39th in the 100 free in a time of 56.53. Competition continues Friday with prelims and finals of the men’s and women’s 400 free, 100 fly, 200 back and 50 breast.