Oct. 20, 2003

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Samford goalkeeper Crystal Royall earned her third Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week honor on Monday as announced by the conference office.

Royall added to her single-season shutout record as the Bulldogs blanked Austin Peay on Friday. She has seven shutouts for the season and 11.5 for her career. Both are Samford school records. She recorded her ninth win of the season going 2-0 this week while allowing only one goal in 182 minutes. She was forced to make four saves on the week.

Credit for the award also has to go to the Samford defensive unit of Kelly Christoffer, Rebecca Mock, Sharon Young, and Shay Helmbock which allowed opponents only eight shots in two matches.

For the season, Royall leads the OVC in goals against average allowing just 0.64 goals per game. She is also first in save percentage at .859 and is tied for the top spot in shutouts with seven. The Bulldogs as a team have nine shutouts on the season but in two of those matches the Bulldogs have used all three goalkeepers so a shutout can not be credited to any one goalkeeper.

As a team, Samford (9-3-3, 5-1 OVC) leads the OVC in fewest goals allowed, and goals against average, and most importantly, the Bulldogs lead in the conference standings with 15 points one point ahead of Eastern Illinois.

The Bulldogs will return to action on Friday as they travel to Morehead, Ky., to face Morehead State in a 5 p.m. match.