Oct. 9, 2005

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University soccer team dropped its first home match of the season on Sunday as the Murray State Racers used a first-half goal from Rebekah Clay to upend the Bulldogs in Ohio Valley Conference action, 1-0.

Clay scored the Racers' game-winning goal at 30:17 into the match.

The score came on Murray State's (5-8-1, 4-2 OVC) lone shot on goal of the contest and only its second attempt of the game. Samford (8-3-2, 3-2 OVC) outshot the Racers 13-6 on Sunday and five of the Bulldogs' 13 shots were on goal.

"When you're the team that's picked to win the conference and you give up an early goal, it makes it very difficult," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "Murray State stepped up its defensive pressure once they got the lead and they battled us hard all day. I have to give them a lot of credit."

With the defeat, Samford lost its first match at home since Nov. 7, 2004. Since then, the Bulldogs had reeled off six-consecutive victories at Bulldog Field.

Samford's Heather Birdsell, Rebecca Bohler and Marian Wagner paced the offensive attack with three shots apiece, while Krista Llewellyn led Murray State with two shot attempts in the game.

The Racers' Clay scored the lone goal of the game from five yards out.

She earned possession approximately 20 yards out and kicked the ball forward towards the net. After bouncing around amongst a trio of Samford defenders, Clay regained control of the ball and fired a shot that deflected into the net off of the right post. The score was her fifth of the season.

"I was a little disappointed in how our team responded after Murray State's goal," Yelton said. "I had hoped that we would come back with a vengeance and look to even up the score, but we continued to play timidly. I think that we played better in the second half, but we just couldn't capitalize on our scoring chances."

Samford's best scoring opportunity occurred early in the first half of play when junior Sara Geiger's shot caromed off the crossbar during the 16th minute.

Immediately following Geiger's attempt, the ball bounded back to Wagner who then one-timed a shot towards the middle of the net. The goal would have given Samford an early 1-0 lead, but Murray State's junior goalkeeper, Heather Jones, made a juggling save to keep the match scoreless.

"This was an unfortunate loss for us," said Yelton. "I think that we as a coaching staff need to look at the way that we are doing things and we have to hold ourselves accountable. It's our job to get the team ready to play and today's loss reflects our inability to do that."

The Samford University soccer team will next be in action on Friday as the Bulldogs continue OVC play on the road against the Eastern Illinois Panthers. The matchup is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m., at EIU's Lakeside Field.

Murray State (5-8-1, 4-2) def. Samford (8-3-2, 3-2), 1-0

MUR 1 0 - 1
SAM 0 0 - 0

Scoring: SAM, None; MUR, Rebekah Clay (5) 30:17 (unassisted).
Saves: SAM, Cayley Winters 0; MUR, Heather Jones 5.
Yellow Cards: SAM, Lauren Faubion 38:31, Cassie Applegate 84:04.