Nov. 4, 2005

Box Score

CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Samford University soccer team advanced to its third-consecutive Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship game on Friday as the Bulldogs moved past the Murray State Racers via penalty kicks, 4-3, at Lakeside Field.

"Before we went to penalty kicks, I told the team that I was proud of the way that they played," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "I think that they really played hard and they left it all on the field. It was definitely difficult circumstances out there with the field and the wind, but life is full of adversity and our players handled it very well."

In Friday's hard-fought semifinal match, the teams played to a 0-0 draw through regulation and then remained scoreless in both overtime periods. After 110:00 minutes of play, the game was then decided by a penalty kick shootout.

Samford's (14-3-3) Rebecca Bohler, Sara Geiger, Shay Helmbock and Devon Paris all scored in the shootout. The Bulldogs' freshman goalkeeper Cayley Winters made the game-winning save on Murray State's (8-10-3) final attempt from Laura Oppegard.

With the win, Samford advanced to Sunday's championship match against the second-seeded Eastern Illinois Panthers. The title game is scheduled to begin at noon and will be televised to a national audience on ESPNU. Eastern Illinois defeated Southeast Missouri, 1-0, on Friday.

Samford, which extended its undefeated streak to seven-consecutive games, outshot the Racers, 15-4, on Friday.

The Bulldogs finished the contest with four shots on goal, as compared to Murray State's one. Samford rattled off four shots during overtime, while Murray State was held without a shot.

In the penalty kick shootout, Samford was leading 3-2, before Murray State's Jen Nowak suffered the first miss of the period as Winters forced her shot off of the left post. The Bulldogs' Paris then scored to put Samford ahead 4-2.

"When we were up 4-2 in the shootout, we felt good about our chances, but Murray is a quality team and penalty kicks can go either way," Yelton said. "Two years ago we were on the losing side of a shootout and we didn't want to go through that again."

Continuing n the shootout, OVC Freshman of the Year Rebekah Clay, scored to the right side to make the score, 4-3, and then Annie Fortier stopped a shot by Marian Wagner putting the pressure on Oppegard.

In the final attempt of the five-round shootout, Oppegard fired a shot to the left side of the goal, but Winters dove headlong towards the post and stopped the ball to secure the victory.

Samford's team was continually uplifted in the contest by a raucous group of fans that made the nearly eight-hour trek north from Birmingham. A pack of approximately 10 students spent the 110:00 minutes of play chanting and playing their drums to cheer on the Bulldogs.

Late in the second half, Samford worked its way into a quality scoring opportunity as Murray State's goalkeeper Heather Jones came out of the box 15 yards and dove for a ball down the left endline.

Once out of the goal, Jones lost possession of the ball and the Bulldogs' Marian Wagner sent a pass across the field to Bohler. Bohler, the recently crowned OVC Offensive Player of the Year, gathered possession and one-timed a shot at the seemingly open net.

Bohler's shot was on target in the middle of the goal, but Jones made her way back into position and made the save.

In the opening 90 minutes of play, Samford outshot the Racers 11-4.

The teams played to a scoreless first half on Friday as each squad attempted three shots in the opening 45 minutes of play. Two of Samford's shots were on goal, while the Racers' Jenna Milward served up Murray State's lone shot on goal of the first period.

"Murray State came out strong in the first half and dictated play," said Yelton. "We never want that to be the case, but then I think that Shay Helmbock, Cassie Applegate, Marian Wagner and Kat Sweatt came on and really gave us a bit of a boost."

The Racers attempted four corner kicks in the opening half of play compared to Samford's three. The Bulldogs were whistled for nine fouls, while Murray State committed six infractions.

Samford and Eastern Illinois will meet for the third-consecutive season in the championship match of the OVC Tournament on Sunday. Earlier this year, the Bulldogs defeated Eastern Illinois, 1-0, in Charleston, Ill.

"Eastern Illinois is a very good team," Yelton said. "They are very difficult to bring down from a defensive standpoint and LeeAnn Langsfeld, Morgan Frericks and Tiffany Groene are all seniors and are battle tested. They also have Sharyne Connell who is one of the toughest players in the conference. It's going to be one of those games that will be a battle."

The Samford University soccer team will attempt to win its first-ever OVC Tournament championship on Sunday as the Bulldogs square off against the Eastern Illinois Panthers at noon in Charleston, Ill. The match will be televised to a national audience by ESPNU.

#1 Samford (14-3-3) advances past #4 Murray State (8-10-3) via penalty kicks, 4-3

MUR 0 0 0 0 - 0 (3)
SAM 0 0 0 0 - 0 (4)

Scoring: SAM, None; MUR, None.
Saves: SAM, Cayley Winters, 1; MUR, Heather Jones, 4.
Yellow Cards: None.