Dense fog, flying soap bubbles and a pesky Belmont team weren’t enough to keep Auburn from claiming its first NCAA Tournament win in four years.

The Tiger soccer team got goals from Kara Kasten and Jenni Prescott to advance to the second round with a 2-0 win over the Bruins (13-7-3) on Friday at the Auburn Soccer Complex.

Auburn (12-8-2) will face Florida State, a 7-0 winner over Mississippi Valley State in the earlier game Friday, in the regional final Sunday at 2 p.m. The Seminoles took a 3-0 win over the Tigers earlier this season in Auburn.

“It’s great, obviously, any time you get a win in the NCAA tournament,” Auburn head coach Karen Hoppa said. “The girls did a great job.”

Auburn won with an attacking offense and smothering defense, racking up a whopping 20 shots on the night to only four for Belmont.

“The defense worked together really well,” senior defender Jenn Johnson said. “Not just the defenders, but the forwards and midfielders played strong defense, too.”

“Our defense did a fantastic job,” Hoppa said. “We were missing Julie King because of an injury she suffered in the SEC Tournament, but Heather Havron did a fantastic job filling in for her.”

After numerous Auburn scoring opportunities, including three failed corner kicks in a span of three minutes in the first half, Kasten got the Tigers on the board with a goal at the post off a nice pass from Rebecca Howell in the 22nd minute. Gabi Rivera was also credited with an assist on the play.

“I was pretty excited,” Kasten said. “That was really important with a team like Belmont, they have kept every one of their games between one or two goals. We wanted to take advantage of a fast start”Things turned a bit bizarre in the second half, as a dense fog settled at field level and what some observers described as “duck-shaped” soap bubbles began descending on the field from all directions.

The soap bubbles were apparently the product of nearby Auburn tailgaters.

But midway through the second half Prescott put the game away after firing a shot at the far post off two touches from Kasten and Stephanie Fransoso to put the Tigers up 2-0 in the 69th minute.

With Florida State, ranked No. 6 in the latest NSCAA/adidas Poll, on the horizon, Hoppa said the Tigers would have to take better advantage of their scoring opportunities.

“The offense did a good job,” she said. “We created so many chances. We’re not going to have that many against Florida State, so we’re going to have to have a better finishing percentage Sunday.”

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