BY NOAH GRIFFITH
FOR THE OBSERVER
AUBURN –– After bringing home the Champions Cup championship trophy from Indiana last June, Auburn University power soccer introduced itself to some of the nation’s top teams in a return to Fort Wayne over the weekend.
The Tigers went 2-1-1 in the tournament while facing two of last season’s top four finishers in the Premier Cup’s 12-team division. They defeated the DASA Cyclones and the ASO Force by a combined score of 7-0, while losing 1-0 to RHI Sudden Impact and tying 1-1 with the Turnstone Flyers — the tournament hosts.
“After achieving promotion last year, there’s always some worry that you’re not quite ready for that level,” said player-coach Zach Dickey. “This was our first test against Premier Cup competition. The speed of the game is just different in this league, so making the adjustment to that as quick as we did was huge.”
The team’s newest addition, freshman goalie Evan Palmer, immediately displayed how he makes the team more dangerous. This year with Palmer, Auburn has transitioned to a new style of play called four-up. Palmer’s awareness and strong defensive ability allows him to come out of the goalie box, so Auburn can play all four players on an offensive attack.
Palmer, a Canadian National Team standout and a former star of the Phoenix Rising club team, allowed just two goals combined between all four games along with scoring a goal of his own on the other end.
Junior Walker Ray also showed his impressive knack for putting the ball in the goal throughout the tournament. The team captain for the weekend scored five goals in four games. Most notably, his final goal allowed Auburn to tie Turnstone, who finished as runners up in last year’s national tournament.
Something about Fort Wayne, Indiana seems to bring out the best in Ray. Along with this weekend’s outburst, he scored 11 goals in route to winning the Golden Guard Award given to the tournament’s best scorer at the national tournament in June, when Auburn won the national championship in Fort Wayne.
“There’s really nothing else to do in Fort Wayne except play soccer, and just being away from Auburn helps me lock in,” Ray said. “You’re there to just play soccer and that gets all of my focus.”
Coming into the tournament, Dickey and the Tigers also felt a little underrated by the power soccer media. The “3 in the Box” podcast, popular among the sport’s community, ranked Auburn in the No. 5-8 range in the Premier Cup rankings.
That puts Auburn in the middle-to-low range in the 12-team league, since the bottom three teams get relegated down to the Champions Cup. Since Auburn won the Champions Cup without a single loss all last year, that took the team by surprise.
However, the outside perception fueled the team in practice going into the tournament. Despite a narrow loss to start the weekend against coach Tom Dickey and U.S. National Team starter Jordan Dickey — Zach’s father and older brother — and Sudden Impact’s star-studded club, Auburn bounced back strong from its first loss since 2024 to finish 2-0-1.
“Me and Jordan have been playing together since 2015 or 2016, but I thought we did a good job of sticking to our system and moving the ball around to where it wasn’t the brother versus brother show,” Dickey said. “We only got scored on twice all weekend, and that’s with our goalie playing at half court.”
Along with the addition of Palmer, Auburn also added freshman Ava Bamberg. sister of returning player Lily Bamberg, to the team this season. All seven players got on the court in the tournament, even against stiff competition, and held their own.
Dickey bragged on each player individually, noting that the team stepped up to perform no matter what lineup was in the game.
While Ray and Palmer made obvious contributions, sophomore Kyle Eggleston rounded out the starting lineup alongside Dickey. Eggleston’s experience, instincts and court vision have played a monumental role in the growth of the team, and his growing confidence is allowing him to play progressively better as the season goes along. Dickey, also a U.S. National Team player, was all over the court to help the team maintain possession, and he led the squad in assists.
Lily Bamberg, the team’s “super sub,” also came into the game and helped the team win loose balls and increase ball movement, adding an assist as well. Noah Griffith and Ava Bamberg also subbed in and showed their improved skills.
“It was just a really special weekend. All seven athletes had really, really special moments,” Dickey said. “Bus rides are so important for this team’s growth. Being stuck on a bus together for 15 hours is something you dread, but these are the moments that bring a team together.”
Next, Auburn continues its season with a trip to Fishers, Indiana on May 2-3. That will be another opportunity for Auburn to face the best club teams in the nation before returning to Fort Wayne for the national tournament in June.
