Sept. 4, 2008

AUBURN, Ala. -

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The Auburn soccer team will play a pair of matches against top-six teams this weekend while trying to snap a two-match losing streak as it heads to Athens, Ga., for the Nike Georgia Invitational. Auburn will play No. 6 Stanford on Friday afternoon at 4:30pm ET and then No. 5 Virginia at 11am on Sunday at UGA's Turner Soccer Complex.

"There has never been a tougher stretch for us, and with them being away from home makes it even more difficult," Auburn Head Coach Karen Hoppa said. "When we made the schedule this year, this is what we designed it for. We wanted to take it to the next level."

The matches against the pair of top-six teams will be the second and third straight against ranked opponents in what is currently a five-match streak of top-25 opposition. Auburn is 2-2-0 on the season after falling at Missouri, 1-0, and at No. 25 Kansas, 2-1, last weekend.

"Unfortunately last weekend was very frustrating but on the positive we played very well in both games," Hoppa said of the trip last weekend. "We just didn't quite do enough or make enough of our opportunities and we lost a pair of one-goal games. Hopefully these losses will make us better for the SEC season."

For Auburn the test against Stanford will be a test against a conference that Auburn has struggled against, going a combined 0-6-0 against the Pac-10, while the matchup with Virginia is a rematch of one of Auburn's biggest victories as AU downed then No. 6 Virginia, 1-0, in 2001, its first win over a top-10 team.

Junior forward Rebecca Howell leads Auburn and is tied for sixth in the conference with five points (1 goal, 3 assists) after netting Auburn's goal in the setback at Kansas while senior goalkeeper Allison Whitworth is fifth in the SEC with a 0.88 GAA.