Aug. 27, 2005

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University soccer team will face one of its toughest challenges of the 2005 season on Sunday as the Bulldogs head west to square off against Mississippi State in a non-conference matchup beginning at 1 p.m.

A free internet audio broadcast of the match will be available at www.SamfordSports.com.

"This is going to be a very hard-fought match," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "Mississippi State has an extremely physically-talented team and Coach (Neil) Macdonald will definitely have them ready to play. They are very well coached and I think that it's going to be a great college soccer match."

Samford (1-0-0) opened its regular-season schedule on Friday and cruised to a 3-0 victory over Wofford at home at Bulldog Field. Freshman Marchele Olds, sophomore Heather Birdsell and senior Marian Wagner scored goals in the win.

Mississippi State (0-0-1) fought to a scoreless draw at home against Iowa State on Friday.

With the tie, the Bulldogs stretched their unbeaten streak in season openers to six-consecutive games. Goalkeeper Emily Meyers recorded nine saves en route to her fifth career shutout.

In the all-time series between the teams, Mississippi State owns a slight 5-2 advantage over Samford, but SU has been victorious in the previous two meetings.

Since Yelton's arrived in 2002, SU holds a 2-0 record against Mississippi State with wins coming in both 2002 (2-1) and 2003 (2-0). Sunday's match will be the first meeting with Mississippi State's Macdonald at the helm.

"I have to admit that we were fortunate to pull out those previous victories over Mississippi State," said Yelton. "In the first contest, our goalkeeper at the time (Crystal Royall) played the match of her life and we were able to sneak across a goal, while in the second meeting we were just able to score on our chances and they weren't."

In 10 matches versus Southeastern Conference opponents, Samford owns a 2-8 all-time record with both wins coming against Mississippi State.

Samford was picked to win its third-consecutive Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title on Aug. 16, in a vote taken by the league's 10 head coaches. The Bulldogs boast seven of 11 returning starters from last year's OVC championship squad, including 14 of 21 returning letterwinners.

The Samford University soccer team will attempt to defeat the Mississippi State Bulldogs for a third-consecutive time on Sunday as the SU Bulldogs travel to Starkville, Miss., for a non-conference matchup beginning at 1 p.m.

There will be an internet audio broadcast of the match available for free at www.SamfordSports.com.