BY NOAH GRIFFITH
FOR THE OBSERVER
AUBURN —
After both teams fell in the Round of Eight last season, Auburn High School girls soccer changed the narrative this year to advance to the Final Four, while the boys will keep searching for a way past the second round.
The girls defeated Prattville at home and Dothan on the road to begin the playoffs and will now get a chance at revenge versus Fairhope, who knocked Auburn out of the playoffs in the Round of Eight last season. The Tigers will match up with Fairhope in the Final Four on Thursday, May 11, in Huntsville at John Hunt Park.
“I think we’re a completely different team than we were last year,” said Auburn soccer head coach Bill Ferguson. “There’s a different level of confidence in our ability to go into matches prepared. We don’t look past anybody. We have experienced that any team can win a game on any given day, so I think we’ll be ready for this team.”
On the other hand, the boys defeated Enterprise, 3-1, in round one before their season ended at Dothan, 3-2. This is the second straight season the boys have lost in round two, but despite losing six seniors, 18 returning players will bring that experience back next year after going 11-8-2 this season.
“We ended up going to penalties at the end of the game at 2-2, and just fell short in penalties,” Ferguson said. “It’s a hard way to lose, but I was proud of the guys fighting back and being the aggressor against a very good team in a hostile environment. We’ve got a lot of hungry players. We have a solid core coming back. I think they’ll be excited to get a chance to maybe correct the path and figure out a way to get past round two.”
Ferguson expressed his appreciation for his seniors, but noted that there are plenty of positive takeaways from the season despite an earlier playoff exit than they hoped for.
“We’re going to miss the senior class so much. Just a lot of experience and great, talented guys,” Ferguson said. “I’ve had several players express to me how much fun they had this season, so there are a lot of good feelings that are coming along, even though we hate to lose.”
Despite the boys’ loss, the girls have a chance for revenge as confidence keeps brewing for the Tigers as they go. However, the team has learned not to let its confidence affect preparation after the loss to Fairhope last season.
Ferguson said the girls came in too relaxed last season and let Fairhope use their energy and aggressiveness to its advantage. Fairhope has already taught Auburn that lesson, and it has taught it to St. Paul’s Episcopal and McGill-Toolen in the first two rounds this season.
As the No. 2 seed coming out of its region, Ferguson said Fairhope is not who he expected to see this late in the playoffs, but he and his team won’t let their guard down this time.
“(Fairhope) already has two wins on the road, so they definitely have a fighting spirit to them,” Ferguson emphasized. “As far as rankings and projections go, they’ve overachieved, so we’ll be getting to work.”
The Auburn girls will prolong their playoff journey into the Final Four for the first time since 2019, starting on Thursday at 3 p.m. CST. If Auburn wins, it will advance to its first ever state championship two days later on Saturday, May 13, at 11 a.m. at the same location in Huntsville.
“We definitely want to get two more wins under our belt and come home state champs, but right now we’re just focusing on one,” Ferguson said.