Oct. 5, 2004

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The first-place Samford University soccer team swept the weekly Ohio Valley Conference honors on Tuesday as the Bulldogs' Rebecca Bohler was named Offensive Player of the Week and Crystal Royall garnered her second-straight Defensive Player of the Week award.

Samford (4-4, 3-0 OVC) is in the midst of a four-match winning streak and has not allowed a goal since Sept. 10. During that stretch, the Bulldogs have posted shutout victories against Troy, 2-0, Jacksonville State, 1-0, Murray State, 3-0, and Tennessee-Martin.

"Having our players earn these honors is very rewarding," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "Not only is it rewarding for the individuals, but it is also rewarding for our entire team. We have very unselfish players and I believe that when we are at our best, we can have any number of players step up and earn these awards."

Over the weekend, Samford competed in its first full slate of conference matches and finished its road trip with an unblemished 2-0 record.

Bohler, the Bulldogs' freshman from Augusta, Ga., accumulated four points over the weekend as she tallied a goal and added a pair of key assists. Samford's speedy forward scored the game-winning goal against Murray State and added an assist in the Bulldogs' 3-0 win on Friday.

"As a freshman, Rebecca has really done a fantastic job of adjusting to the speed of the college level," Yelton said. "There is still room for improvement and she can still get better, but she has great creativity and skill with the ball. Those are some of the intangibles that are very difficult to coach and I think that's why she's been able to adapt so well this season."

Bohler earned the lone assist in Samford's thrilling 1-0 victory over Tennessee-Martin on Sunday. She currently leads or is tied for the team lead in all five major offensive categories: points (5), goals (1), game-winning goals (1), assists (3) and shots (13).

Royall earned her second-straight OVC Defensive Player of the Week honor on Tuesday.

On Sunday, the Bulldogs' senior goalkeeper recorded her third shutout of the 2004 season after playing over 81 minutes in a combined shutout against Murray State on Friday. Over the weekend, she turned in a total of 171:40 minutes of shutout soccer and has played 408:85 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal.

"Crystal has been solid in goal for us all season long," said Yelton. "We know that in any given match we're going to have a good chance of winning because she's back there for us. She played very well for us over the weekend and she kept us in the match on Sunday."

Royall, a native of Richmond, Va., increased her all-time Samford record in career shutouts to 17.5 on Sunday as she tallied a season-high nine saves in a critical 1-0 shutout victory over Tennessee-Martin. Royall has only allowed a total of five goals this season.

The Bulldogs' current four-match winning streak is only the fourth in school history and is the first involving four-straight shutouts. Samford has tallied a total of eight goals this season and each of them has been scored by a different player. Of the Bulldogs' eight goals, five have been registered by true freshmen.

The Samford University soccer team will next be in action on Friday, Oct. 8, as the Bulldogs continue their OVC schedule with a home contest against the Southeast Missouri Indians at 7 p.m., at Bulldog Field.

Ohio Valley Conference

Players of the Week

Oct. 5, 2004

Offensive Player of the Week: Rebecca Bohler, Fr., F, Augusta, Ga. - Samford

Defensive Player of the Week: Crystal Royall, Sr., GK, Richmond, Va. - Samford