Nov. 9, 2003

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Lindsay Shanks became Samford's all-time leading goal scorer putting her 24th career goal past Tiffany Groene in the 88th minute as Samford tied Eastern Illinois 1-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Final Sunday afternoon.

The second seeded Panthers (11-5-5) Teri LaRoche made good on the final penalty kick as EIU won the tournament title and advance to the NCAA College Cup 5-4 in penalty kicks. The win gives the Panthers their third consecutive OVC Tournament title and their fourth in five years.

Top-seeded Samford (12-4-5) was making its first ever tournament final appearance in its first year in the OVC. The Bulldogs out-shot EIU 15-12 and had a 12-4 advantage in corner kicks.

Eastern Illinois got on the board in the fourth minute on a counter attack. Audra Frericks found Beth Liesen at the top of the 18-yard box. The conference Player of the Year and Tournament MVP made no mistake putting a right-footed shot past Samford goal keeper Crystal Royall to give EIU a 1-0 lead.

The match remained that way for the next 82 minutes. In the 88th minute, Adri Zertuche's long throw in found Marian Wagner who gave a feed to Shanks that tied the match.

In the shootout, Groene made a save on Sara Geiger on the very first kick to give EIU an advantage it would not surrender. Lee Ann Langsfeld, Sharyne Connell, Liesen, Frericks, and LaRoche all converted on their kicks to send the Panthers on to next week's College Cup. Heidi Kearns, Marian Wagner, Shay Helmbock, and Keala Ryan all converted on their kicks for Samford.

"I am unbelievably proud of our team and all that they accomplished," said Samford hea coach Todd Yelton. "I thought after we gave up the goal, we played very well. We controlled the run of play and had quality chances. Eastern played very hard and made it difficult to score. Now we will take two weeks off and start working towards next year."

Samford won the regular season title with a 7-1 conference record. Shanks' goal was her sixth of the season. Wagner had her fifth assist and Zertuche was credited with her first assist of the season.

All Tournament Team
Beth Liesin, EIU - MVP
Tiffany Groene, EIU
Sharyne Connell, EIU
Rachel Dorfman, EIU,
Kelly Christoffer, Samford
Sara Geiger, Samford
Marian Wagner, Samford
Dausha Hudack, JSU
Kim Peterson, JSU
Marla Gianino, SEMO
Laura Hauskins, SEMO