Oct. 15, 2010

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - For the second match in a row, Samford's Sarah Wilkinson tallied a golden goal in overtime to lift the Bulldogs' soccer team to a 1-0 victory over the Appalachian State Mountaineers Friday in Southern Conference action held at Bulldog Field. Wilkinson, Samford's junior forward from Euless, Texas, scored the decisive goal exactly 2:04 into the second overtime period.

"This was a great win for us," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "I have to give full credit to Appalachian State. They were very difficult to break down tonight and I thought their goalkeeper was exceptional. Their entire back line was extremely good, but I'm very proud of our players and how they never gave up in order to get this victory."

On Sunday, Wilkinson notched the Bulldogs' game-winning goal against Furman in the initial overtime frame. Friday's score was Wilkinson's fifth of the season, tying her for the team lead in the category. Samford's Paige Lanter was credited with the assist on Wilkinson's score, her second helper of the season.

"Sarah is just a very determined player and she's had a knack for scoring these key goals," Yelton said. "She's a huge competitor and doesn't like to lose. With all of the injuries we've had this season, Sarah has really stepped up into that goal-scoring role took on the challenge of being more assertive. She's a captain on this team and she's shown great leadership all year long."

With the victory, Samford (9-5-1, 5-2 SoCon) extended its winning streak to five-consecutive matches and improved to 6-2-1 at Bulldog Field this season.

Samford goalkeeper Alyssa Whitehead registered her eighth shutout of the 2010 campaign and tallied the 22nd of her career. With Sunday's shutout, she set the Bulldogs' all-time record in the category, surpassing former great Crystal Royall. Royall closed out her illustrious career with 21.5 shutouts in four seasons.

Whitehead, a Preseason All-SoCon selection, finished Friday's contest with five key saves.

With the loss, Appalachian State (4-6-4, 1-3-3 SoCon) had its four-match undefeated streak snapped and suffered its first loss since a 2-1 double-overtime defeat against The Citadel on Sept. 26. The Mountaineers also dropped to 0-3 in their all-time series with Samford.

"Appalachian State has a talented team and they like to pressure teams, and in the first half they definitely had their chances to score," said Yelton. "At the end of the day, it was a very competitive match we were very happy to get the result."

The Mountaineers concluded Friday's match with 11 shot attempts and 12 saves. Appalachian State's goalkeeper Caroline Clarke, who is a reigning Co-SoCon Player of the Week, finished with a team-high 11 saves.

The only ball Clarke couldn't stop all night was Wilkinson's game-winning goal in the 103rd minute of play. On the decisive score, Clarke played a goal kick into a crowd of people near midfield and Lanter skied high above a pair of Mountaineer defenders to head the ball 25 yards down the left flank.

Wilkinson, Samford's speedy junior, gathered the headed ball just outside the box and outran an Appalachian State defender to the left corner of the goal. With a one-v-one with the goalkeeper, Wilkinson faked to her left but then sent a right-footed shot to the right corner of the goal. The ball caromed off the post and slid to the back of the net for the game winner.

With the victory, Samford earned its fifth straight SoCon win and moved to 5-2 in conference play this season. The Bulldogs remained in second place in the league with four SoCon matches remaining in the regular season. The top four teams in the conference's final standings will host a first-round match in the upcoming SoCon Tournament.

"We started 0-2 in the league, but now we've bounced back to win our last five matches, so we're in a pretty good spot now, but we just want to keep the positive momentum going," Yelton said. "We certainly understand how important it is to play a first-round SoCon Tournament match at home and we just want to get as high of a seed as we can."

Prior to Friday's match, Samford's five seniors were honored with a special Senior Night presentation. The Bulldogs' 2010 senior class consists of Lanter, Leah Leppert, Colette Nammour, Hilary Samuels and Kelly Shaffer.

Samford also wore special pink jerseys Friday to bring attention to Breast Cancer Prevention. The jerseys were auctioned during the match and nearly $1,300 was raised to be donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Sunday at 2 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs square off against the Western Carolina Catamounts at Bulldog Field.