Aug. 20, 2003

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Preseason scrimmages are generally for the coaches to judge talent, see which players are in shape, and to get a feel for a starting line-up. Samford's soccer scrimmage Tuesday night showed coaches there is talent, most are in shape, and who knows what the starting line-up could be.

The Bulldogs broke into two sides, the "white" team with mostly veteran returning starters and a "green" team of mostly freshman and sophomores. The "green" side scored first and controlled the run of play for most of the first twenty minutes. The first goal came on a header off a corner kick by Allison Provine. Provine then scored later in the period to give the "green" a 2-1 lead. The two sides combined for two goals a piece in the first 20 minutes showing there was certainly not a drop off in talent.

The second 20 minutes, show more defense than the first as the "white" started to take control of the run of play. Lindsay Shanks scored the go ahead goal with about five minutes left in the period for what looked like the only goal of the period. However, Freshman Allison Stone tied the match on the last kick of the period from 25-yards away.

With the match tied at three heading into the final 20 minutes, the white side began to shows its experience. Hayley Kolb scored an empty net goal set up by Shanks and Heidi Kearns added the final goal of the night to give the "white" a 5-3 victory.

Two things impressed head coach Todd Yelton about the scrimmage. The first, the number of goals scored by the two teams, "I think this is the most goals we have scored in a scrimmage," said Yelton. The second was the depth of his team this year, "There are a lot of combinations that we can put on the field," said Yelton. "We are deeper than we have ever been. Both sides played well tonight, everyone is trying to earn a spot in the starting 11 and right now who knows."

"We need to continue to improve every time we step on the field," said Yelton. "There are a lot of things about this team that impress me but we have to work harder on keeping our focus throughout the match. Playing well for 85 minutes and giving up a goal in the last five won't get it done. We have to work just as hard in the last five minutes as the first five."

The Bulldogs will finally get a chance to scrimmage someone else when they face Alabama in an exhibition in Huntsville on Saturday. The match will be played at 6:30 p.m.