Box Score
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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- Less than two minutes after Furman's Molly Dwyer equalized Friday's match at 1-1, Samford's Malcanisha Kelley tallied a miraculous game-winning goal with only 8:49 remaining in the Southern Conference semifinal round contest to propel the Bulldogs to a thrilling 2-1 victory at Summer-Taylor Stadium on the campus of East Tennessee State University.
 
With the triumph, Samford (14-3-2) advanced to Sunday's SoCon Championship title match where the top-seeded Bulldogs will face No. 2 seed ETSU at noon (CT) live on ESPN3 and will decide the SoCon's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Samford struck first Friday as sophomore Korrie Sauder tallied her third goal of the season in the 35^th minute to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 first-half lead. Sauder's goal came off a pretty header in the box and was assisted by true freshman Taylor Meneide.
 
Samford continued to maintain its solid 1-0 lead for the next 45 minutes and seemed poised to ride a stringent defensive performance to its fifth straight shutout victory, but then Furman (13-5-2) struck in the 80^th minute to even the match at 1-1.
 
Dwyer, the Paladins' junior midfielder from Knoxville, Tennessee, notched her 10^th goal of the season on the scoring play that was setup by Treva Aycock and Erin O'Hearn.
 
Not to be disheartened, Samford immediately bounced back and continued to maintain its offensive pressure on Furman's back line.
 
Exactly 98 seconds following Dwyer's goal, the Bulldogs' Kelley gathered an errant Paladins' pass deep in their midfield and sent a high-flying shot towards the goal. Furman's goalkeeper Rose Hull tracked the lofted ball, but it carried over her outstretched arms and caromed off the crossbar.
 
After falling and skimming off the metal at nearly a perfect 12-o-clock angle, the ball bounced hard off the ground and back high into the air on the left side of the goal. With plenty of backspin and eyes of its own, the ball then bounded off the turf and forward into the net directly in front of Hull, who stood watching on in disbelief.
 
Kelley's goal proved to be her sixth of the season and second game-winner of the 2016 campaign. Kelley, Samford's all-time leading goal-scorer with 34, was in the midst of a three-match, goal-scoring drought, but put an end to the stretch in a major way.
 
Kelley currently holds Samford's all-time goals record by eight over former Bulldog-great Marian Wagner.
 
Samford will be making its fourth championship game appearance Sunday and first since 2014. The Bulldogs won their last SoCon title in 2011.
 
Furman outshot Samford, 15-6, on the day, putting six of those shots on frame. Samford's First-Team All-SoCon goalkeeper Anna Maddox was equal to the task, making five saves in improving to 13-0 on the year.
 
Trailing 1-0, Furman had one of its best scoring chances midway through the second half, when Carlie Couch took a nice through ball at the top of the box but had her shot deflected out of bounds. The ensuing corner kick came up empty.
 
With 13:30 left in the match, Samford senior Jermaine Seoposenwe, the SoCon Player of the Year and the league's leading scorer, nearly doubled the Bulldog lead when she got loose on a breakaway, but Furman's Hull came off her line to smother the ball before she could get off a shot.
 
Hull, a redshirt senior, made two saves in her final career match.
 
With the win, Samford's ninth straight, the Bulldogs improved to 2-1 against Furman in the SoCon Tournament. All three meetings have come in the semifinals, and the winner of the previous two went on to win the title in those seasons.
 
The win also avenged Samford's lone league loss this season, a 3-2 setback on Sept. 25.
 
The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Sunday at noon (CT) as the Bulldogs square off against No. 2 ETSU in the championship match of the SoCon Tournament live on ESPN3.
 
The winner of this year's tournament will receive the SoCon's automatic bid to the NCAA postseason. The NCAA Selection Show will air on NCAA.com on Monday, Nov. 7, at 3:30 p.m.
 
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Box Score
Samford Stats