Aug. 20, 2010

Box Score

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Samford University soccer team mounted a valiant comeback late in the second half of play Friday, but eventually ran out of time in a hard-fought 2-1 loss against the Alabama Crimson Tide in a season-opening match held in front of a school-record crowd of 1,284 fans at the Alabama Soccer Complex.

"We just didn't show up for the first 10 or 15 minutes of the match," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "They scored that early goal and then we had to chase to the game from that point on. Then, we came right back, but missed the penalty kick and that would have made it 1-1. I really felt like we let one get away tonight."

With the loss, Samford (0-1) dropped to 1-2 in its all-time series against Alabama (1-0). Both of the Bulldogs' setbacks have occurred on the road in Tuscaloosa. Samford fell behind early in the match, and later trailed 2-0 midway through the second half of play, but then rallied late with a goal from sophomore Lindsay Matern.

Matern's score occurred during the 80th minute of action and trimmed Alabama's lead to 2-1. The Bulldogs pressed the Crimson Tide hard during the final 10 minutes of action, but couldn't punch a goal through for the equalizer.

With Friday's win, Alabama avenged a 3-0 loss at Samford last season. The in-state rivals have squared off three times, with each team winning on its home pitch.

"I have to give full credit to Alabama," Yelton said. "They were very opportunistic tonight and Victoria Fredericks is a handful. She's a fantastic player, but I thought that other than two situations, Paige Lanter did a very good job of marking her. That's a challenging task because she's a really good player."

The Crimson Tide jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the fourth minute of play when Brooke Rogers connected on a looping one-timer from 18 yards out. On the goal, which was scored three minutes and eight seconds into the match, Alabama's Veronika Wolfkeil earned the assist.

On the score, Alabama sent a counter-attack down the right side of the field with Wolfkeil in possession. The Crimson Tide's junior defender cruised down the sideline then sent a deep entry pass into the box which Rogers one-timed over Samford goalkeeper Alyssa Whitehead.

"Giving up an early goal will almost always hurt you," said Yelton. "Tonight, it definitely hurt us and I'm really disappointed with the way we started the game, but I was very proud of the team and how we finished the game."

Midway through the first period, Samford's Leah Leppert led an offensive charge for the Bulldogs down the left sideline. On the attack, Samford's senior forward slipped past a pair of Crimson Tide defenders and found herself one-v-one with Alabama goalkeeper Justine Bernier.

Bernier, who was nearly 20 yards away from the goal on the play, found herself as the last line of defense for the Crimson Tide and tackled Leppert in the corner of the box. As a result of the foul, Samford was awarded with a penalty-kick attempt in the 18th minute of the first half.

The Bulldogs' Lanter took the penalty-kick attempt at 17:16 with an opportunity to even the match at 1-1, but fired a laser that ricocheted off the crossbar two yards from the right post. The ball caromed off the bar and bounced high in the air directly in front of goal where Bernier grabbed the rebound.

In the first half of play, both teams registered six shot attempts. Five of Samford's six shots were on goal, while Alabama concluded the opening 45 minutes of play with four shots on goal. The Crimson Tide's Bernier tallied five saves in the first half. Samford's Whitehead, who led the NCAA in goals-against average a year ago with a stellar 0.31 mark, finished with four first-half saves.

Leppert paced the Bulldogs' offense in the first half with two shot attempts. Alabama's offensive attack was led by Rogers and Kendall Khanna.

Late in the second half of play, Alabama extended its lead to 2-0 as Rosaly Petriello connected on a penalty kick. Petriello tallied the goal during the 77th minute of play after she was ruled to have been fouled in the box by Lanter.

Less than three minutes after Alabama's second goal, Samford quickly responded with a goal of its own from sophomore Lindsay Matern. With the score, the Bulldogs trimmed the Crimson Tide's lead to 2-1. Matern's goal, the first of her career, was assisted by Lauren Cook who sent a crossing pass over the goalkeeper's outstretched arms and directly to Matern at the far end of the goal.

Matern entered the 2010 campaign after being forced to use a pair of medical redshirt seasons in 2007 and 2008. She also spent the 2009 season recovering from a third season-ending injury. Matern came to Samford as a highly-touted recruit in 2007, but has suffered an injury-plagued career. Matern is only a sophomore and still has two years of eligibility remaining after this season.

"I'm happy for Lindsay to score the goal, especially after everything she's been through," said Yelton. "I'm sure it was a great feeling for her. I consider this team a family and we've definitely seen all of the trials and tribulations that she's been through in her career, so for her to get a goal put a smile on my face for sure."

With less than two minutes remaining in the in-state matchup, Samford's true freshman Trine Taule nearly tallied the equalizing goal of the match as she fired a left-footed attempt on goal from 15 yards out. Taule's shot, which came from the left side of the box, was caught in the air by Bernier for the save. It marked Bernier's match-high ninth save of the night.

Samford's goalkeeper Whitehead finished the contest with eight saves.

"We have a young squad and this was a tough loss for us, but I will take from this game a lot of encouragement," Yelton said. "I think that we are going to be a really good team by the time this season is over and we showed some glimpses of that tonight."

The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Sunday at 6 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs travel to Memphis, Tenn., for another early-season test against the 18th-ranked Memphis Lady Tigers. The match will be held at Memphis' Mike Rose Soccer Complex.