Oct. 4, 2001

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Freshman forward Lindsay Shanks recorded her second multiple goal game of the season and sophomores Wendy Woods (John Carroll H.S.) and Kelly Christoffer each added goals as the Bulldogs defeated conference rival Mercer, 4-1 Thursday night. Samford remains in first place in the Atlantic Sun Conference at 3-0-1 while the Bears drop to 3-2.

"It was a great win. We're still playing well. Every game we play, we gain more confidence. I'm proud of the girls for not putting their heads down when they (Mercer) got a tying goal," Samford head coach Barry Spitzer said. "They didn't hang their heads. They just battled back. I told Heather to find a player and she found Toff (Christoffer) for the goal. I think we started doing the little things right and that was when we picked up momentum and was able to score a few more goals."

The Bulldogs struck first taking the lead on Shanks' seventh goal of the season. Sophomore forward Lisa Robishaw's shot was blocked by Mercer goalkeeper Karolina Revay but Shanks' shot off the rebound found an empty goal to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute of play.

The Bears tied the game right before halftime when Anna Aspholmer took a shot from 20 yards out on the right side. Aspholmer's shot found the far left corner of the goal to make it 1-1 in the 43rd minute.

Samford regained the lead in the 65th minute when freshman midfielder Heather Pomper's corner kick found the head of Christoffer. Christoffer headed the ball into the left corner of the goal to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 advantage.

Mercer came within feet of tying the game when Aspholmer's header sailed just wide off a corner kick in the 70th minute. Samford went on to add two more goals in the last six minutes of play.

Off a cross from Shanks, Woods squared up and shot past Revay to give the Bulldogs a 3-1 lead. Three minutes later, Shanks stole a ball at midfield and broke away towards the goal. Her shot slipped past Revay for her second goal of the evening.

"It feels good (scoring the goals). I haven't been playing as well as I thought I would, so this game definitely picked me up. It's getting me fired up again. I think Troy State will definitely be a good game," Shanks said.

Wood's and Christoffer's goals were their first of the season while Shanks added two more goals for her seventh and eighth.

Samford outshot Mercer 25-9. Ollom finished with three saves for the Bulldogs while Revay finished with nine saves for Mercer.

The Bulldogs will continue conference play when they host Troy State at 1 p.m. Saturday. Mercer will play at Jacksonville State.