Nov. 2, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University soccer team advanced to the semifinal round of the Southern Conference Tournament on Sunday with a dramatic penalty-kick shootout victory against the College of Charleston Cougars held at Bulldog Field. The teams played to a 0-0 draw, but Samford earned a 4-1 win in the shootout.

The Bulldogs' Paige Lanter, Tori Delmonico, Cindy Spiker and Amber Cress all scored in the shootout. Cress's goal solidified the victory. Samford's 6-foot-3 goalkeeper Alyssa Whitehead made a pair of diving saves during the shootout period.

"This was a tough match and I'm just glad that we were able to advance," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "I have to give a lot of credit to the College of Charleston. I thought that they played fantastic tonight. In the second half, they definitely had us under pressure and we were fortunate to make it to the shootout without giving up a goal."

By advancing to the semifinal round of the SoCon Tournament, third-seeded Samford (9-8-3) will face off against the second-seeded Western Carolina Catamounts on Friday at 6 p.m. The semifinals and finals of the SoCon Tournament will be held at Patriots Point in Charleston, S.C.

With Sunday's 0-0 draw, the College of Charleston (12-5-4) concluded its 2008 season. The Cougars ended the year as the sixth-place team in the conference standings and finished the season with a 0-1-1 record against the Bulldogs.

Samford ended the 2008 campaign with an undefeated 5-0-2 record at home. The Bulldogs have not lost a match at home since Sept. 21, 2007, which is a school-record streak of 14-consecutive games.

Neither team scored a goal in the 110 minutes of play Sunday. The College of Charleston finished the match with 12 shot attempts and five shots on goal, while Samford rattled off five shot attempts with two being on-goal.

The Bulldogs' Whitehead made five key saves in the game, while the Cougars' goalkeeper Erin Smith finished with two stops.

"Going into overtime, we challenged our players and they responded in a very positive manner," Yelton said. "I'm very proud of how they competed and then they stepped it up even more in the shootout."

In the penalty-kick shootout, the College of Charleston won the coin toss and elected to shoot second. Therefore, Samford's Lanter opened the shootout and scored to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. Next up, the Cougars' Megan Manthey, who was the SoCon's leading goal-scorer this season, evened the tally at 1-1.

Samford's Delmonico went second for the Bulldogs and scored on her attempt to give the home team a 2-1 advantage.

On the College of Charleston's next two shots attempts, Whitehead made diving saves against Katie Browne and Julie Romanik. Following a score from Spiker to make it 3-1 and a save by Whitehead, Samford's Cress clinched the shootout victory with her decisive goal.

"Heading into the tournament, we'd been working on our penalty kicks quite a bit," said Yelton. "We put a lot of focus on it and Alyssa (Whitehead) is such an imposing goalkeeper that we knew we would have a chance. Normally, you just want your goalkeeper to make one stop, but today she made two for us."

Western Carolina, Samford's opponent Friday in the semifinal round of the SoCon Tournament, also advanced via penalty kicks on Sunday. Against seventh-seed Elon, Western Carolina tallied a 4-3 win in the tiebreaking shootout.

Last week, Samford and Western Carolina met on the pitch and the Bulldogs earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory in Cullowhee, N.C.

Friday's game will be held at 6 p.m. (CT) at Patriots Point in Charleston, S.C.

SoCon Tournament Bracket