June 1, 2005

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University soccer team's 2005 fall schedule includes matches against Southeastern Conference opponents Alabama, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, as well as a groundbreaking contest on the road versus N.C. State, announced Head Coach Todd Yelton on Wednesday.

"One of the things that we've traditionally done here at Samford is that we've always played an out-of-conference schedule that is very demanding," said Yelton. "We want to play against teams from the SEC, the ACC, the Big Ten and those types of conferences. We've had success against them and we want to continue to play quality competition year-in and year-out."

Samford, the back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference regular-season champions, will once again compete against a rigorous non-conference schedule prior to opening OVC play.

This season, the Bulldogs are slated to face off against eight non-conference teams before opening its OVC schedule on Sept. 23, against Eastern Kentucky. Samford will close out its 2005 campaign with matchups against Birmingham-Southern and Belmont.

The Bulldogs kick off their fall competition with an exhibition contest against Alabama on Aug. 20, as they square off against their in-state rival at Bulldog Field at 7 p.m. Samford will then open its regular season versus Wofford on Aug. 26, before heading to Starkville, Miss., for a key regional matchup against SEC-foe Mississippi State on Aug. 28.

On Sept. 2 and 4, the Bulldogs will host the four-team Samford Bulldog Soccer Tournament featuring Evansville, Marshall and Memphis. The Friday and Sunday competition will be held at Bulldog Field and Samford is scheduled to play Memphis on Sept. 2 at 7 p.m., and Marshall at 2 p.m. on Sept. 4.

In the four matches leading into OVC play, the Bulldogs square off against some of their toughest competition as they travel to N.C. State and Winthrop, host Conference USA-opponent Southern Miss and meet Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn., on Sept. 18.

The N.C. State matchup will be played at the state-of-the-art SAS Soccer Stadium in Cary, N.C., on Sept. 9, and will mark Samford's first meeting against a member of the talent-laden Atlantic Coast Conference.

"Playing the level of competition that we play in our pre-conference matches does a good job of preparing us for our conference schedule," Yelton said. "By the time we've played our non-conference schedule, there shouldn't be any surprises for us, because we will know the strengths and weaknesses of our team by then."

The Bulldogs' conference schedule includes road matches versus Eastern Kentucky, Morehead State, Eastern Illinois and Southeast Missouri, while their OVC home slate contains meetings with Jacksonville State, Tennessee-Martin, Murray State, Tennessee Tech and Austin Peay.

Samford will play a pair of non-conference matches during the week before the 2005 OVC Tournament.

On Oct. 25, Samford travels across town to face intra-city rival Birmingham-Southern at 7 p.m., before hosting Belmont in a Senior Night matchup at 7 p.m., to conclude the regular season on Oct. 28.

The first round of the OVC Tournament will be held on Nov. 1, at the home site of the higher-seeded teams, while the semifinal and championship matches will be held at the home field of the regular-season champion, Nov. 4 and 6.

This season, the Bulldogs return 15 of 23 letterwinners from last year's championship squad, including seven of their 11 starters. The Samford University soccer team will begin competition in its 2005 fall schedule on Aug. 20, as the Bulldogs host the Alabama Crimson Tide in a preseason exhibition contest beginning at 7 p.m., at Bulldog Field.

2005 SAMFORD SOCCER SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Location, Time
Aug. 20, ALABAMA (exhibition), BIRMINGHAM, 7:00 p.m.
Aug. 26, WOFFORD, BIRMINGHAM, 7:00 p.m.
Aug. 28, at Mississippi State, Starkville, Miss., 1:00 p.m.
Sept. 2, MEMPHIS $, BIRMINGHAM, 7:00 p.m.
Sept. 4, MARSHALL $, BIRMINGHAM, 2:00 p.m.
Sept. 9, at N.C. State, Raleigh, N.C., 7:00 p.m.
Sept. 11, at Winthrop, Rock Hill, S.C., 1:00 p.m.
Sept. 16, SOUTHERN MISS, BIRMINGHAM, 7:00 p.m.
Sept. 18, at Vanderbilt, Nashville, Tenn., 1:00 p.m.
Sept. 23, at Eastern Kentucky*, Richmond, Ky., 4:00 p.m.
Sept. 25, at Morehead State*, Morehead, Ky., Noon
Sept. 30, JACKSONVILLE STATE*, BIRMINGHAM, 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 7, TENNESSEE-MARTIN*, BIRMINGHAM, 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 9, MURRAY STATE*, BIRMINGHAM, 2:00 p.m.
Oct. 14, at Eastern Illinois*, Charleston, Ill., 3:00 p.m.
Oct. 16, at Southeast Missouri*, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 1:00 p.m.
Oct. 21, TENNESSEE TECH*, BIRMINGHAM, 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 23, AUSTIN PEAY*, BIRMINGHAM, 2:00 p.m.
Oct. 25, at Birmingham-Southern, Birmingham, Ala., 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 28, BELMONT, BIRMINGHAM, 7:00 p.m.
Nov. 1, OVC Tournament First Round ^, Campus Site @, TBA
Nov. 4, OVC Tournament Semifinal Round ^, Tournament Site %, TBA
Nov. 6, OVC Tournament Championship ^, Tournament Site %, TBA

$ - Samford Bulldog Soccer Tournament
* - Ohio Valley Conference match
^ - OVC Tournament contest
@ - The first-round games of the OVC Tournament are hosted by the higher seed
% - The OVC Tournament is hosted by the league's regular-season champion