Oct. 24, 2004

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University soccer team claimed its second-straight Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championship on Sunday as the Bulldogs earned a decisive 1-0 victory over the Morehead State Eagles at Bulldog Field. Freshman Katie Conway scored the game-winning goal at the six-minute mark in the second half.

In only its second year in the OVC, Samford has won consecutive regular-season titles and will host the league's prestigious postseason tournament, Nov. 5-7. The winner of the 2004 OVC Championship will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

"This was a huge win for us today and it feels great to repeat as champions," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "I guess that I'll sleep a lot better tonight than I did last night and I think that it is just a great honor for our team. It's very hard to win one conference title and our players were able to do it two years in a row. I'm extremely proud of them."

Samford (9-5-1, 7-1-0 OVC) picked up its ninth win in its previous 11 contests and extended its undefeated streak to five-consecutive matches. Morehead State (9-7-1, 4-4-0 OVC) split its final weekend of conference play and won four of its final six matchups. The Eagles knocked off Jacksonville State, 2-0, on Friday.

After playing to a scoreless first half, Samford came out strong in the early portion of the second frame and continued to apply offensive pressure on Morehead State's goalkeeper Stefani Workman. The Bulldogs outshot the Eagles, 8-2, in the second half of play and earned four corner kicks to only one for Morehead State.

Conway, Samford's 5-10 forward from Marietta, Ga., gave the Bulldogs their 1-0 lead as the highly-touted freshman one-timed a perfectly-placed pass from Allison Stone past Workman into the right-hand corner of the net. The game-winning goal, Conway's second of the 2004 season, came at the 51:52 mark in the contest. Last week, Conway notched the game-winning goal in Samford's 1-0 victory at Austin Peay.

"Katie's scored two huge goals for us this season," Yelton said. "They were both game-winners and she's gotten better and better as this year's gone on. She scored the goal and she did a great job of beating the keeper, but today's match was a total team effort. Everyone did their part, but I can't say enough about the way that Heidi Kearns played today. I think that she had a warrior's mentality out there and she battled for everything."

Samford entered Sunday's match knowing that it would have to defeat the Eagles in their OVC finale or else Eastern Illinois would win the regular-season title. With the victory, the Bulldogs secured the first-place position in the conference with 21 points, while EIU secured the second spot with a total of 19 points.

Samford's Crystal Royall notched her conference-leading seventh shutout of the season and the 21.5 of her career. The Bulldogs' senior goalkeeper is the school's career leader in shutouts and has only allowed seven goals this season.

"When I talked to the seniors before the game, I told them to make this their legacy," Yelton said. "In your legacy, you've won two conference championships and now we have a chance to win the OVC Tournament and advance to the NCAA Tournament."

The teams fought to a scoreless first half on Sunday at a hot and humid Bulldog Field. Samford applied the offensive pressure in the opening 45 minutes of play and outshot the Eagles, 6-4. Morehead State registered three corner kicks in the first half of play, while the Bulldogs attempted one.

"Our team is excited about winning the conference, but I think that they are also excited because they know that they still have unfinished business to take care of," said Yelton. "They really want to play well in the (OVC) tournament and they want to advance to the NCAA Tournament."

"It's a huge boost for us to be able to host the tournament, especially in this conference," Yelton said. "There are so many different field surfaces that you could play on and I think that it is a huge advantage to be able to play at home. Hosting the tournament is a huge motivator for our kids, because they realize what a great benefit that is. Our student body does such a great job of supporting our team and we're looking forward to Nov. 5."

The 2004 OVC champion Samford University soccer team will next be in action on Friday, Oct. 29, as the Bulldogs host cross-town rival Birmingham-Southern at 7 p.m., at Bulldog Field. The contest will be Samford's final regular-season home match of the year and the Bulldogs' five seniors will be honored.

Samford (9-5-1, 7-1-0) def. Morehead State (9-7-1, 4-4-0), 1-0

MOR 0 0 - 0

SAM 0 1 - 1

Scoring: SAM, Katie Conway (2) 51:52 (assist Allison Stone).

Saves: SAM, Crystal Royall 1, Team 1; MOR, Stefani Workman 6.

Yellow Cards: MOR, Laurie Lacroix (1) 46:32.