Auburn soccer making Improvements in second season under James Armstrong

The 2026 college soccer season is almost here. The Auburn Tigers are getting their final days of preparation in before their first regular season matchup on August 12th. Auburn’s first exhibition game, is tomorrow, at Georgia before playing their second exhibition, at home, against Georgia Southern on Saturday. Head coach James Armstrong said there was extra time built in to summer workouts and practice. He shared how that has benefited his team so far.

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“It's allowed us time to have team meetings, you know, team building exercises and then, you know, get all the cobwebs shaken off from a technical standpoint.” Coach Armstrong said.

The Tigers lost their two leading scorers from last year. They do however return 5th year senior forward Dylan Driver. She was third on the team with three goals and led the Tigers in assists with seven. She said she has made it a point of emphasis to put the ball in the back of the net on a more regular basis this year.

“Whether that's extra reps after practice or really focusing on making the most of every opportunity I do have during practice. We've have a lot of drills where we've been able to get at goal and kind of having that mindset of like, okay, I'm a center forward. I'm an attacker.” Driver stated.

Auburn also returns their top goalie from last year, junior, Ayana Yapo. She started all 18 games for the Tigers in 2025. Yapo registered a .60 save percentage and only allowed an average of one goal against per game. She shared what she and the rest of her goalie teammates have been working on to improve those numbers.

“I think a big focus, especially in the spring and preseason, has been a lot of our movement off the ball, going in and out of possession. So as soon as we lose that ball, we've worked a lot on just gaining space, dropping a few yards, and then seeing kind of how we position our defense and how we position ourselves to make sure we're in the best spot to hopefully make a save.” Yapo expressed.

One thing Coach Armstrong wants to nail down in these exhibitions is what tactical formation will the Tigers run this year. He says this team does not have that one big star, but Coach Armstrong feels that’s not such a bad thing.

“I think on both sides of the ball, we've got that togetherness where we defend together or we attack together. And I think that will make it much more difficult for opponents to be able to play and scout against us.” Coach Armstrong said.

While these exhibitions won’t count towards the schedule, the players still want to give their best effort to pick up the win. But, there is another thing that they want to take away from these final tune ups.

“You only get more confidence by playing more games and stuff. So, uh, seeing how we can build off of each aspect of that Georgia game and take it into Georgia Southern and then ultimately take it into Clemson and just keep kind of, you know, soccer is a lot about momentum, riding that momentum, whether it's in a singular game or throughout the course of the season.” Driver added.

Yapo said, “I think that obviously our first task is each and every day to get better, whether that's, you know, directly preparing for an opponent or just like literally practicing to improve our own skills, technique, all those things.”

After Auburn’s showdown with Clemson on August 12th, the Tigers will play three non-conference road games against Kennesaw State, UAB, and Samford. Conference play begins on September 11th against archrival Alabama. Auburn will also have home matches against Ole Miss, Tennessee, Kentucky and Mississippi State. The Tigers have to travel to SEC opponents Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Florida, and Texas. Coach Armstrong and his players feel scheduling quality opponents has its advantages.

Coach Armstrong stated, “I think we've got really good opposition, really well coached. All of them return a lot of key players and all will be strong favorites to do very well in their conference and different styles as well.”

Driver added, “I think we're just excited. We, I think we have a lot of belief internally in this group. There's like a, I don't know, just a good vibe going around. Everybody's rowing in the same direction. So I think we're all just super excited, ready to showcase what we have this season. So we just can't wait to show the Auburn family what we have.”

Auburn and Georgia will kick-off, at Turner Soccer Stadium, tomorrow afternoon at 4:30. Then on Saturday, Auburn and Georgia Southern will get underway, at the Auburn Soccer Complex, at 5:00. Admission, all year, is free for anyone who wants to attend.

Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.