Nov. 15, 2007

PHOTO GALLERY

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The Auburn soccer team arrived in Gainesville, Fla., this afternoon via charter plane, touching down just before 2pm local time, as it prepares for its NCAA Tournament First Round matchup with Central Florida set for 4:30pm ET on Friday at the University of Florida's Pressly Stadium.

After settling in to its hotel just 15 minutes away from the field, the team went to Pressly Stadium for a one-hour practice at 4:30pm

"Usually practice is not as intense on the day before a game, but I think we got a lot done in a short period of time on the field," freshman defender Jaime Wheeler said. "The defense got our shape figured out and when to step. I thought we had a really good practice."

After a team meal at Macaroni Grill, the team headed back to the hotel to relax, watch television, study or fall asleep before buckling down with its scouting report tomorrow morning.

"This year I know what is at stake going into it a lot more than I did last year as a freshman," said sophomore forward Caitlin King, who leads the team with 21 points and was a Second Team All-SEC selection. "I only have, hopefully, three of these (NCAA Tournaments) left and I know it goes by fast, so we have to play every game like it's our last."

After failing to advance past LSU in the opening round of the SEC Tournament last weekend in Orange Beach, the team feels like it still has something left to prove.

"We need to get the job done as fast as we can," King said of what the team learned from last week's SEC Tournament match in which it tied LSU, 2-2, but fell on penalty kicks. "We don't want to get into a situation where we are playing for PK's."

Without getting out of the first round of the conference tournament and finishing fifth in the overall conference standings, the team knew that it was not a guarantee that it would even be in the tournament this weekend.

"It was awesome to see our name come across the screen," Wheeler said of watching the tournament selection show on Monday night as a team. "I think we are in a really good position, being in Florida and facing UCF in the first round."

"No one is ever guaranteed a NCAA spot. This year we didn't do as much as we would like to do in the regular season to earn a spot," junior and Second Team All-SEC goalkeeper Allison Whitworth said. "We were given a second chance to prove we are a quality team and we can compete with anyone that is thrown up against us."

"The trip down was great. Obviously the school supports us and wants us to do our best. They provided us with a great flight down and great hotels to let us focus on this weekend and playing one game at a time." Whitworth said of the team's focus.

Friday's game will be available on the internet at www.auburntigers.com as well as a free video stream at www.GatorVision.tv.