Oct. 21, 2005

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University soccer team turned in a late second-half rally to defeat the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, 2-1, on Friday, as the Bulldogs' Lauren Faubion and Rebecca Mock each scored crucial goals in the come-from-behind victory.

"This was a great win for us," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "I am extremely proud of our players for showing the integrity and the character out there to remain focused on the job at hand despite giving up the goal.

Trailing, 1-0, with 14:28 left on the clock, Samford (11-3-2, 6-2 Ohio Valley Conference) evened the score and regained the momentum in the match as Faubion knocked in the equalizing goal off of a Rebecca Bohler corner kick. The assist was Bohler's OVC-leading seventh of the season.

The goal was Faubion's fourth of the season and her third in the last three matches. The Bulldogs' native of McKinney, Texas, scored against both Eastern Illinois and Southeast Missouri last weekend.

Tennessee Tech (6-11, 3-5 OVC) received a goal from junior Joni Simmons during the 71st minute of play to take the opening lead.

On the score, the Golden Eagles' Ashley Vidal sent a deep centering pass into the penalty box. The ball then skidded past Samford's freshman goalkeeper Cayley Winters and bounced directly to Simmons on the endline. Simmons, with Winters off balance, fought hard to her right and placed a shot neatly in the right-hand corner of the net.

The goal was Simmons' team-leading sixth score of the season.

"We fell behind by a goal, but we never got discouraged," said Yelton. "It was similar to what happened to us against Murray State last week, but this time we rebounded and played with some energy. I think that our team has really grown a lot during the last few weeks and we're playing with a lot more confidence right now."

With the score of the match deadlocked at 1-1, Samford's Rebecca Mock scored the game-winning goal with only 2:40 remaining in the contest. The crucial goal was her first of the season.

On the play, senior Marian Wagner gathered possession of the ball at midfield, outran a pair of Golden Eagle defenders and found Mock wide open on the far left side of the field. Mock collected the pass, beat Tennessee Tech's final defender and then rifled a shot past the goalkeeper into the bottom-left corner of the net.

The game-winning goal gave Samford its third-consecutive victory and kept the Bulldogs' hopes for a third-straight OVC regular-season title alive.

With one game remaining in the conference schedule, Samford needs to defeat Austin Peay on Sunday and has to have Eastern Illinois either lose or tie on the road against Murray State. At 6-1-1 in the OVC, Eastern Illinois leads Samford for first place by one point, 19-18.

"With our win tonight, we keep the pressure on Eastern Illinois and they have to be feeling the heat a little bit," said Yelton. "In a lot of ways, nothing else has really changed for us. We still need to win against Austin Peay on Sunday and they have a very talented team."

The Samford University soccer team will next be in action on Sunday as the Bulldogs close out their home conference schedule against the Austin Peay Lady Govs at 2 p.m., at Bulldog Field.

Samford (11-3-2, 6-2) def. Tennessee Tech (6-11, 3-5), 2-1

TTU 0 1 - 1
SAM 0 2 - 2

Scoring: SAM, Lauren Faubion (4) 76:32 (assist Rebecca Bohler), Rebecca Mock (1) 87:20 (assist Marian Wagner); TTU, Joni Simmons (6) 70:15 (assist Ashley Vidal).
Saves: SAM, Cayley Winters 4; TTU, Loretta McNamee 3.
Yellow Cards: SAM, Faubion 87:43.