Aug. 25, 2005

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University soccer team will begin its 2005 regular-season schedule on Friday as the Bulldogs play host to the Wofford Terriers in a non-conference match beginning at 7 p.m., at Bulldog Field.

"We're really excited to get the regular season underway," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "We're finally getting into a routine as far as our practice schedule is concerned, and I think that some of our players are starting to feel a bit of nervous anticipation for the season to start."

"I was really glad that our exhibition match against Alabama was played at such a high level, because a lot of our players were able to get the jitters out of their system and I think that we competed well against them."

Samford enters Friday's season-opening contest looking to build upon its exhibition performance against Alabama on Saturday. The Bulldogs were defeated in the matchup, 1-0, but gained valuable experience for the team's 15 underclassmen.

A total of 20 of Samford's 22 players saw action against the Crimson Tide last week with freshmen Marchele Olds and Cayley Winters making their Bulldog debuts in the starting lineup. Samford and Alabama played to a scoreless draw in the first half of action before the Crimson Tide's Libby Probst tallied the game-winning goal at 45:31 in the match.

"Since our match against Alabama, we worked on making better decisions on the defensive half," Yelton said. "We have also been concentrating on making better attacking runs on offense. I am very pleased with how we trained this week and we definitely make a lot of good progress."

Wofford will be making its first appearance of the 2005 season on Friday. Head Coach Amy Kiah enters her seventh year at the helm of the Terriers' women's soccer program and owns a 48-61-7 overall record.

"Wofford is a very well-coached team," said Yelton. "They have extremely hard-working players and they will definitely have a stingy defense. We played against them in 2003 and the match ended in a scoreless tie, so we expect them to come out and play us tough tomorrow."

Last season, the Terriers concluded the 2004 campaign with an 8-8-1 overall mark and a 3-7-1 record in Southern Conference play. Wofford ended the year tied for ninth place in the conference's standings after losing six of its final eight matches.

Samford heads into the season with high expectations after the team earned its second straight Ohio Valley Conference championship last year. The Bulldogs return 14 of 21 letterwinners from last season's squad, including seven of 11 starters.

In 2004, Samford posted a 10-7-1 overall record and compiled a remarkable 7-1 league mark en route to winning the OVC regular-season title. Yelton, the 2003 OVC Coach of the Year, has compiled a 14-2 record against conference opponents in the Bulldogs' two seasons in the OVC.

The only previous meeting between Samford and Wofford occurred two seasons ago in Yelton's second year at the helm.

On Sept. 7, 2003, the non-conference foes battled to a scoreless draw in an early-season contest held in Spartanburg, S.C. The match took place in front of 168 people at Snyder Field and concluded in a hard-fought 0-0 tie.

The Samford University soccer team will attempt to win its fifth season-opening match in the previous seven years on Friday as the Bulldogs host the Wofford Terriers in a non-conference contest beginning at 7 p.m., at Bulldog Field.