Oct. 10, 2008

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University soccer team exploded for a 3-0 Southern Conference victory against the Furman Lady Paladins on Friday at Bulldog Field. In the shutout win, Samford's Amber Cress scored a pair of goals and Leah Leppert tacked on a score in the victory.

"I wish we could play every game at Bulldog Field on Friday," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "The atmosphere tonight was great and the support we get at home here is always fantastic. Our players really fed off the crowd and it helped them to play with some great confidence. I'm extremely proud of our players and the effort they put forth."

With Friday's win, Samford (4-8-1, 3-1-1 SoCon) remained undefeated at home this season and improved to 2-0-1 at Bulldog Field. On Sunday, Samford will continue play in its SoCon schedule with a road matchup against Wofford.

Furman (8-5-1, 2-3 SoCon) suffered its worst defeat of the 2008 campaign. The Lady Paladins, who knocked off Clemson on Sept. 19, were shut out for the second consecutive game. Furman's previous worst defeat of the year was a 3-1 loss at Kennesaw State on Sept. 12.

Samford's true freshman goalkeeper Alyssa Whitehead earned her first career victory in goal. The Bulldogs' 6-foot-3 native of Hattiesburg, Miss., played 88:30 minutes and made six key saves.

"Alyssa made a number of good saves, but she made a huge one in the first half," Yelton said. "She was able to keep them off the board tonight and we played a very good team in Furman. The shots ended up being 15-15 and I feel for them because we've been in some of those games this season where it seems like nothing seems to go in the back of the net."

Samford's Cress scored the opening two goals of the game and struck first for the Bulldogs in the 28th minute of play.

On the game-winning goal, Natalie Fleming moved the ball down the field through a pair of Furman defenders before feeding a pass to her left ahead to Leah Leppert. Leppert, who later scored the Bulldogs' third goal of the game, rifled a shot on-goal that Furman goalkeeper Jessica Smith dove for and stopped.

Following Smith's save, the ball bounded out towards the center of the box where Cress one-timed a shot sharply into the right corner of the net. Both Fleming and Leppert were credited with assists.

Early in the second half, Samford extended its lead to 3-0 as Cress tallied her second goal of the season. With the score, she improved her team-high total in goals to three.

On the play, the Bulldogs' Colette Nammour fed a centering pass to Cress in the middle of Furman's defense. Cress, Samford's dangerous forward from Zionsville, Ind., then sped by a pair of Lady Paladins, faked a shot and subsequently moved around the diving goalkeeper. Once past Smith, Cress easily pushed her shot into the left corner of the empty net.

"It was good to see Amber break away from some of her bad luck and score some goals tonight," Yelton said. "So far this season, she's hit the post, she's had goalkeepers make great saves and tonight she was fantastic. She scored two goals and it seemed like she nearly added a couple more. It was very nice to see her score goals and gain some confidence."

At 86:06 in the match, Samford's Leppert tallied her first goal of the season to give the Bulldogs their decisive 3-0 victory. Both Cress and Caroline Baxter earned assists on the score.

The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Sunday at 1 p.m. (CT), as the Bulldogs continue SoCon play on the road against the Wofford Terriers in Spartanburg, S.C. The matchup will be held at Wofford's Snyder Field (2,250).