Oct. 30, 2010

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University soccer team will begin its postseason quest for a berth in the NCAA Tournament Sunday at 6 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs host the Davidson Wildcats in the opening round of the 2010 Southern Conference Tournament to be played in the final match held at Bulldog Field.

Samford (12-5-2, 8-2-1 SoCon) heads into the match as the second-seeded team in the eight-team field, while Davidson (6-8-5, 2-4-5 SoCon) enters as the seventh-seeded squad.

The crucial SoCon Tournament contest will be the final match held in the 14-year history of Samford's Bulldog Field. Since its inaugural season in 1997, the Samford soccer program has compiled an impressive 83-30-16 record at home. Since Head Coach Todd Yelton took over the reins to the Bulldogs' program in 2002, Samford has rattled off a remarkable 58-13-13 record at home.

Next season, the Bulldogs will begin play in the brand-new Samford Soccer Complex, which will be completed in the spring of 2011. Sunday's match will mark the seventh all-time conference tournament contest hosted at Bulldog Field.

Samford heads into the postseason with a full head of steam after defeated SoCon-rival Chattanooga on Wednesday 3-0. With the shutout victory, the Bulldogs extended their undefeated streak to nine-consecutive matches. During the stretch, Samford compiled an 8-0-1 record with its lone draw occurring on the road against Davidson 0-0 on Oct. 22.

For her play in Wednesday's 3-0 victory at Chattanooga, Samford's Paige Lanter was named the SoCon Player of the Week on Friday. The Bulldogs' senior from Hixson, Tenn., scored a pair of goals at Chattanooga.

Lanter scored both of her goals in the second half of play as the decisive scores occurred only 3:22 apart from each other. Lanter only attempted two shots Wednesday, but both found the back of the net. Her first goal was scored at 46:34 into the match and then her second goal occurred at 49:56.

So far this season, Lanter has come up from her defender position to score three goals and add a pair of assists.

Samford's junior goalkeeper Alyssa Whitehead is already the school's all-time leader in both career shutouts (26) and single-season shutouts (12). In the Bulldogs' earlier matchup against Davidson, Whitehead finished with a key save against the Wildcats' Stephanie Gerow.

Davidson enters the 2010 SoCon Tournament riding the positive momentum of a three-match undefeated streak. Since losing to the third-seeded The Citadel 3-1 on Oct. 17, the Wildcats have played to a scoreless draw with Samford, earned a 1-0 home win against Chattanooga and battled to a 1-1 draw at Georgia Southern.

In the all-time series between Samford and Davidson, the Wildcats hold an undefeated 1-0-2 record against the Bulldogs. Davidson defeated Samford 3-0 in 2008 and since then the teams have fought to back-to-back draws in both 2009 (1-1 in Birmingham) and 2010 (0-0 in Davidson). On Oct. 22, Samford outshot Davidson 19-8 in the teams' scoreless draw.

The winner of Sunday's opening-round match between Samford and Davidson will advance to Friday's semifinal contest being held at the Catamount Athletic Complex in Cullowhee, N.C. On the campus of Western Carolina University, either Samford or Davidson will square off against third-seeded The Citadel or sixth-seeded Furman at 6:30 p.m. (CDT).

GameTracker - Davidson at Samford
2010 SoCon Tournament Bracket