Aug. 31, 2008

Box Score

MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Samford University soccer team squared off against its third-straight, regionally-ranked opponent of the season Sunday and dropped a hard-fought 2-0 decision to the Marquette Golden Eagles at Valley Field.

Samford (0-3) finished the 2008 Milwaukee Cup with an 0-2 record. Redshirt sophomore Paige Lanter earned a spot on the all-tournament team.

The University of Milwaukee-Wisconsin earned the championship title of the four-team event by finishing with a 2-0 mark. On Friday, Milwaukee posted a 4-2 victory against Samford. Milwaukee is the sixth-ranked team in the Great Lakes Region.

With Sunday's win, Marquette (3-0) also concluded play in the 2008 Milwaukee Cup with an unblemished 2-0 record. Milwaukee earned the tournament title over Marquette by winning the goals-scored tiebreaker with eight.

Marquette, the 12th-ranked team in the Great Lakes Region, received goals from Julia Victor and Kelly Wepking in Sunday's win.

After the teams played 69 minutes of scoreless soccer, Victor tallied the Golden Eagles' game-winning goal at the 69:06 mark as she notched her first score of the 2008 season. Marquette extended its lead to 2-0 with Wepking's second goal of the year during the 86th minute of play.

On Wepking's score, Ashley Bares was credited with an assist.

Samford's senior goalkeeper Cayley Winters made her first start in goal of the season Sunday. After missing the first two games of the year with an arm injury, Winters returned to the starting lineup and tallied a career-high 14 saves. The total surpassed her previous career-high mark of 11 set against 19th-ranked Vanderbilt in the opening round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament.

Samford and Marquette finished the game with five corner kicks apiece.

With Sunday's loss, Samford opened the season with an 0-3 record for the first time since 2004. Later that year, the Bulldogs went on to win the 2004 Ohio Valley Conference championship and finished the season with an impressive 7-1 league record.

The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Friday at 5 p.m., as the Bulldogs square off against the Mercer Bears in the opening game of the 2008 Jacksonville State Invitational. The match will be held at the JSU Soccer Field in Jacksonville, Ala.

Milwaukee Cup All-Tournament Team

Sarah Hagen, Milwaukee (MVP)
Lauren Acree, Marquette
Ashley Bawyer, Ohio State
Shannon Cusick, Milwaukee
Erin Kreuser, Milwaukee
Paige Lanter, Samford
Kate Megna, Milwaukee
Lauren Steuer, Ohio State
Sarah Teegarden, Milwaukee
Keara Thompson, Milwaukee
Chelsey Turner, Marquette