Aug. 23, 2003

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - Alabama's Katie Holtzopfel scored two goals, including the game winner following an incidental handball, as Samford dropped a soccer exhibition Saturday night 2-1 at the Alabama Soccer Festival hosted by the Huntsville Soccer Club.

Alabama scored the game's first goal off a corner kick in the third minute of play. Suzanne Baker's corner kick found Holtzopfel about ten yards from goal, who sent a right-footed shot into the upper netting. The Crimson Tide had four corner kicks in the game's first five minutes and held a 4-0 lead in shots to open the game.

Samford junior Lindsay Shanks evened the match in the 14th minute when she took freshman Sharon Young's pass and sent a ball to the far post from 20 yards out.

Shanks nearly gave the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead in the 28th minute, but was whistled offsides as she broke towards the keeper with a breakaway opportunity.

The game remained 1-1 at the half despite Alabama maintaining a 6-2 lead in shots and a 6-0 advantage in corner kicks.

Alabama missed a golden scoring chance in the 49th minute as Dawn Nash slipped a ball just wide of the Samford net on a breakaway. The Crimson Tide finally broke through with the game-winning goal in the 59th minute, but it was not without some controversy. Holtzopfel used her forearm to settle a bouncing ball. Though the Samford defenders all raised their hands signaling the handball, the referee ruled the handball incidental and Holtzopfel's shot hit the far-post and deflected into the back of the net.

Samford's only shot of the second half came after the Bulldogs' only corner kick of the game. In the 73rd minute, freshman Rebecca Mock ran onto a ball that come out to the top of the 18-yard box and unleashed a right-footed shot, but it was blocked by an Alabama defender.

"We have to take this game for what it is worth," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "It's an exhibition, we wanted to win, but it was beneficial. We found some areas that we need to improve, and hopefully we will make those adjustments before next week. Tonight gave our young players a chance to face tough competition and to get their first-game jitters out of the way. You can definitely see the potential this team has, but we will take the lessons learned tonight and improve for Friday."

Samford opens the regular season on Friday, Aug. 29, at home against Belmont. Kick-off is at 7 p.m. at the Samford Soccer Field.

FINAL STATS
Alabama 1 1 2
Samford 1 0 1

GOALS Alabama-Holtzopfel 3rd minute assisted by Baker Samford - Shanks, 14th minute assisted by Young Alabama-Holtzopfel, 59th minute, unassisted

SHOTS-- Alabama 14, Samford 3 CORNER KICKS-Alabama 9, Samford 1 FOULS- Alabama 14, Samford 12 OFFSIDES-Alabama 0, Samford 2 GOALKEEPER SAVES-Alabama 1, Samford 4,

CAUTIONS Alabama-L. Baker (YC) 77th minute