Sept. 16, 2010

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University soccer team will play its first road match in nearly a month Friday as the Bulldogs travel south to Auburn, Ala., for an in-state contest against the 21st-ranked Auburn Tigers. Samford's final non-conference matchup of the 2010 regular season will be held at the Auburn Soccer Complex.

Samford (4-2-1) heads into Friday's match riding the positive momentum of a four-match winning streak. Since playing to a 2-2 draw with Mercer on Aug. 27, the Bulldogs have rattled off consecutive shutout victories against Southern Miss 4-0, UAB 1-0, Kennesaw State 2-0 and Tennessee Tech 2-0.

Samford's last five matches have been held at home at Bulldog Field. During the early-season homestand, the Bulldogs compiled a 4-0-1 record and outscored their opponents by a total score of 11-2. Samford's most recent road match was a 3-0 loss at the 18th-ranked Memphis Tigers held Aug. 22, at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex in Memphis, Tenn.

With last week's home wins versus Kennesaw State and Tennessee Tech, Samford claimed the championship title of the annual Samford Invitational held at Bulldog Field.

Junior goalkeeper Alyssa Whitehead was named the Most Valuable Player of the four-team, two-day competition after she registered back-to-back shutouts in the tournament. Whitehead, Samfod's 6-foot-3 native of Hattiesburg, Miss., was later named the Southern Conference's Player of the Week on Tuesday.

Whitehead has registered four straight shutouts and has not allowed a goal in a total of 381:06 minutes, dating back to a 2-2 draw with Mercer on Aug. 27.

Samford's Leah Leppert, Sabbath McKiernan-Allen and Hilary Samuels also earned All-Tournament honors for their play in the 2010 Samford Invitational.

Auburn (5-2) enters Friday's in-state contest as the 21st-ranked team in the nation. The Tigers boast a bit of positive momentum after defeating Cal State Fullerton, 2-0, on the final day of the USC Tournament held in Los Angeles, Calif. In its shutout victory, junior Julie King scored her first two goals on the season, one in each half, as Auburn finished the weekend trip to California with a 1-1 record.

On Friday, the Tigers dropped a hard-fought 1-0 contest against hometown-favorite USC. Prior to last weekend's tournament, Auburn was coming off consecutive victories versus Milwaukee 2-1, fifth-ranked Florida State 3-2 and Western Carolina 3-0.

Samford trails in its all-time series against Auburn by a tally of 0-5-1. The rivalry began in 2003 and the Tigers earned victories in each of the first five meetings between the teams. Last season, the teams squared off in a season-opening contest held at Bulldog Field and Samford played to a 0-0 draw with 25th-ranked Auburn.

In last year's meeting, Samford set a school record with 1,264 fans at Bulldog Field. The school's historic crowd surpassed its previous total of 1,054, which was also set against Auburn on Sept. 2, 2004. The standing-room-only crowd spilled out of the stands and wrapped all the way around the fence on the southeast and eastern portions of Bulldog Field.

Samford's Whitehead finished last season's match with nine saves and tied her career-high with the total.

Following Friday night's matchup against No. 21 Auburn, the Samford University soccer team will next be in action Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs begin SoCon play at home with a match against the Elon Phoenix and Bulldog Field.

GameTracker -Samford at No. 21 Auburn