Oct. 11, 2009

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - For the third time in four meetings, the Samford soccer team played to a 0-0 draw against the Wofford Terriers. The scoreless tie was the third in the all-time series between the teams. The Bulldogs' Alyssa Whitehead made a pair of saves to earn her Southern Conference-leading seventh shutout of the season.

Samford (8-1-3, 3-1-2 SoCon) dictated the play in Sunday's match, but failed to score a goal for only the third time this season. The Bulldogs outshot the Terriers 17-2 and led the corner kick tally by a count of 11-1.

"It was a disappointing performance for us," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "We had a number of chances to win the game, but to Wofford's credit their goalkeeper played well and they battled us the entire time. Obviously, we're pretty disappointed with the outcome."

With Sunday's scoreless draw, both Samford and Wofford (3-10-1, 2-3-1 SoCon) extended their undefeated streaks. The Bulldogs have not been defeated in four-consecutive matches, while the Terriers improved their streak to three straight contests.

"(Head coach) Amy (Kiah) had a great game plan against us today and her players stuck to it," Yelton said. "They tried to get us with counters and they had a few chances. On all of the opportunities that we had today, we either missed a goal that we should have had, or their goalkeeper made an outstanding play."

In a sluggish first half of play, the teams combined to record two shot attempts; one for each side. The first-half total was Samford's lowest of the 2009 campaign.

"I have to do a better job of getting the team ready to play," Yelton said. "I don't feel like our players were ready to go in the first half and I take responsibility for that. We'll do our best to make sure that it doesn't happen again, because every single match is important in SoCon play."

The Bulldogs exploded for 10 shots in the second half, five of which were on-goal. Samford's Amber Cress led the way with six shot attempts, while Lauren Cook followed with three. Both players nearly tallied goals in the second half, but were thwarted by excellent saves from Wofford's goalkeeper Katie McChesney.

McChesney, who made her first start of the year Sunday, finished the match with a season-high six saves.

"In the second half, we were pretty good," said Yelton. "We played well, but when you're trying to win a conference championship, we have to show up for the entire match and we sure didn't do that in the first half.

In the four all-time meetings between Samford and Wofford, three have finished in a 0-0 draw. The Bulldogs' lone victory in the series occurred Aug. 26, 2005, as they streaked to a 3-0 victory.

With five matches remaining in the regular season, Samford owns a 3-1-2 record in SoCon play and sits in fourth place in the league's standings. This season, only the top four teams in the final standings will qualify for the 2009 SoCon Tournament.

"This upcoming road trip will most likely determine whether we make the SoCon Tournament or not," said Yelton. "We play Greensboro on Friday and they are perennially one of the best teams in the conference. Then we have Elon on Sunday who is off to a great start this season. It's going to be a tough trip and we have to play well, or else it could definitely break us."

The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Friday at 6 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs travel to Greensboro, N.C., for a critical SoCon matchup against the UNC Greensboro Spartans.