Sept. 1, 2005

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University soccer team will play host to the four-team 2005 Long's Electronics Samford Classic this weekend as the Bulldogs welcome Memphis, Marshall and Evansville to Bulldog Field for a two-day competition, Friday and Sunday.

Samford (1-0-1) is set to square off against the Memphis Lady Tigers (1-0-0) at 7 p.m., on Friday and will then meet the Marshall Thundering Herd (0-1-0) in the tournament finale on Sunday at 2 p.m. Evansville (2-0-0) and Marshall will kick off the weekend's competition with a 4:30 p.m., matchup on Friday.

Admission is free to all of Samford's home regular-season soccer matches.

"We're extremely glad to have these three quality teams play in our tournament," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "The big thing for us to be able to go against some good competition and we will definitely be able to do that this weekend. Memphis and Marshall are both members of Conference USA and they will be big challenges for us."

The Bulldogs head into Friday's contest with a 1-0-1 overall record on the season.

Samford kicked off its 2005 campaign with a resounding 3-0 victory over Wofford on Aug. 26, and then earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw on the road against Mississippi State on Sunday. During the early part of the season, the Bulldogs have been led by senior goalkeeper Emily Morris and sophomores Heather Birdsell and Rebecca Bohler.

Morris, a native of Memphis, Tenn., was named the Ohio Valley Conference's Defensive Player of Week on Tuesday as she limited the opposition to only one goal in 168:51 minutes of play over the weekend. In 2005, Morris owns a miniscule 0.53 goals against average and a solid .875 save percentage.

Birdsell currently leads the Bulldogs with three points this season, while Bohler has accounted for two of Samford's four assists.

Heather Birdsell has already scored a goal and registered an assist this season.

Memphis enters Friday's contest with a load of momentum after the Lady Tigers romped Tennessee Tech, 7-0, on Aug. 28. In the season-opening victory, Japan natives Asuka Kubota and Shoko Mikami, each scored a pair of goals.

In the Lady Tigers' two exhibition matches, Memphis was defeated by Indiana, 5-0, but then bounced back to post an explosive 6-1 victory over Indiana State.

"We're going to have our work cut out for us against Memphis," Yelton said. "They've already scored 12 goals this season, so we know that they have some great scorers up front. We have to do a good job of limiting their chances on the offensive end of the ball and our defenders are going to have to take up some slack."

Friday's match will be the first meeting between Samford and Memphis

The Bulldogs are in the midst of their ninth season with a soccer program, while Memphis has had a women's soccer team since the 1995 campaign. Samford has never defeated a C-USA opponent in five meetings, with four losses against Southern Miss and a 1-0 defeat versus Tulane in 2004.

The Samford University soccer team will look to remain undefeated this season on Friday as the Bulldogs host the Memphis Lady Tigers in the inaugural Long's Electronics Samford Classic at 7 p.m., at Bulldogs Field.

In the opening match of the four-team tournament, the Evansville Purple Aces will square off against the Marshall Thundering Herd at 4:30 p.m., on Friday. Samford will close out the 2005 Long's Electronics Samford Classic at 2 p.m., on Sunday against Marshall.

2005 Long's Electronics Samford Classic
Match Schedule - Bulldog Field

Friday
Evansville vs. Marshall, 4:30 p.m.
Memphis at Samford, 7:00 p.m.

Sunday
Memphis vs. Evansville, 11:30 a.m.
Marshall at Samford, 2:00 p.m.