Oct. 7, 2004

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University soccer team will play its first home match in over a month on Friday as the Bulldogs kick off a crucial Ohio Valley Conference weekend against the Southeast Missouri Indians at 7 p.m., at Bulldog Field.

"This is always a big weekend for us when these teams come to town," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "We have two huge matches coming up and a lot of things in the conference will get sorted out this weekend. We just need to take it one match at a time and concentrate on Southeast Missouri."

Samford (4-4-0, 3-0-0 OVC) heads into Friday's matchup looking to maintain its first-place position atop the OVC standings.

The Bulldogs own an unblemished 3-0 conference record and are currently in sole possession of first place. Samford holds a slight two-point lead in the OVC standings over Southeast Missouri (7-2-1, 2-0-1 OVC) and Eastern Illinois (6-3-2, 2-0-1 OVC), who both enter this weekend with identical 2-0-1 league records.

Samford, which has not allowed a goal since Sept. 10, will play both of the OVC's second-place teams this weekend as the Bulldogs host Southeast Missouri on Friday and Eastern Illinois on Sunday. Samford's last home contest was on Sept. 2, against 20th-ranked Auburn.

"Our players are very excited to be playing at home again," Yelton said. "We've been playing on the road for over a month and you would think that on Oct. 8, we would have had more than one home game. I believe that we have the best fans in the nation and it will be exciting for our players to be able to play in front of them at Bulldog Field."

Southeast Missouri comes into Friday's contest riding a five-match undefeated streak. The Indians have not been beaten since Sept. 12, when Northwestern registered a hard-fought 1-0 victory on the road in Evanston, Ill. Southeast Missouri's first loss of the season was a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Illinois.

The Indians' lone blemish in conference play this season was a 2-2 draw on the road against Tennessee Tech. Since then, Southeast Missouri has blanked Austin Peay, 1-0, and held off Morehead State, 2-1.

"Southeast Missouri has a very talented team and we played two close matches against them last season," said Yelton. "We were fortunate to beat them at their place a year ago and we played them to a draw in the conference tournament. Tomorrow's match should be really tight."

Friday's matchup between Samford and Southeast Missouri will mark only the third time that the teams have met in women's soccer. Last year, in the Bulldogs' inaugural season in the OVC, Samford defeated the Indians, 1-0, in the regular season and then used penalty kicks to advance past Southeast Missouri in the conference tournament.

The Samford University soccer team will attempt to remain undefeated against the Southeast Missouri Indians on Friday as the Bulldogs welcome their OVC rivals to Bulldog Field for a critical conference matchup beginning at 7 p.m.