Sept. 17, 2010

Box Score

AUBURN, Ala. - The Samford University soccer team had its four-match winning streak snapped Friday in a 2-0 road loss against the Auburn Tigers at the Auburn Soccer Complex. In the in-state duel, the teams were tied at 0-0 until the Tigers rallied for a pair of goals in the final five minutes of play.

"I thought our players battled hard tonight and showed great character," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "They played with courage, and in the last five minutes of the match I decided to go for it. I tried to go for the winner, and in the end, they ended up getting the goal. With five minutes to go, we decided to go for it, and maybe that wasn't the best decision on my part, but I'm extremely proud of my team."

With the loss, Samford (4-3-1) suffered its first defeat in nearly a month. Prior to Friday's setback, the Bulldogs' most recent loss was a 3-0 road decision against No. 18-ranked Memphis on Aug. 22. Samford tallied a 4-0-1 record between defeats and registered wins versus Southern Miss 4-0, UAB 1-0, Kennesaw State 2-0 and Tennessee Tech 2-0 during the stretch.

Auburn (6-2), the No. 21-ranked team in the nation a week ago, earned its second straight victory Friday. After falling on the road at USC on Sept. 10, the Tigers have picked up identical 2-0 wins against Cal State Fullerton and Samford.

"I think Auburn has an outstanding team this season," Yelton said. "Karen (Hoppa) does a brilliant job with her squad and I don't think there's a better player in the nation than Katy Frierson. I will say that I thought Michelle Moll did a phenomenal job of dealing with Katy, and it was pretty obvious that Katy was a bit miserable having to deal with Michelle."

Samford goalkeeper Alyssa Whitehead registered a career-high 13 saves against Auburn. Whitehead's record-setting performance topped her previous high of nine, which she tallied against College of Charleston on Sept. 27, 2009.

"Alyssa is just a fantastic goalkeeper," said Yelton. "She did a great job, but I also thought that our back four played phenomenal as well. I think that they've played maybe as well as they have all year. I thought Colette (Nammour) and Sabbath (McKiernan-Allen) had a lot to deal with and they really did a good job."

Both of Auburn's goals were scored in the final 5:13 of play Friday. The teams fought to a scoreless 0-0 tally nearly 85 minutes into the match when senior Gabi Rivera tallied the game-winning goal. On the decisive score, Rivera gained possession of the ball on the right-hand flank with the nearest Samford defender 20 yards away to her left.

The free time gave Rivera enough room to scoot only 15 yards away from goal where she snaked the ball into the bottom left corner of the net.

The score gave Auburn a 1-0 lead and proved to be the first goal that Samford allowed in 465:53 minutes, dating back to a 2-2 draw at home with Mercer on Aug. 27.

Less than two minutes later, the Tigers tacked on their second goal of the night at 86:46 as Mary Coffed took a Rivera pass and scored her second goal of the season in a similar fashion as Auburn's first goal. Both goals looked almost identical and Coffed's score also found the bottom of the net in the bottom-left corner.

Samford and Auburn fought to a scoreless first half Friday. The Tigers finished the opening 45 minutes of play with 12 shot attempts, while the Bulldogs' Leah Leppert recorded Samford's lone tally of the first half.

Whitehead, the Bulldogs' 6-foot-3 goalkeeper from Hattiesburg, Miss., registered six saves in the opening half, including a number of sky-flying punches to thwart goals on the top shelf. Samford's Preseason All-Southern Conference selection entered Friday's match with a season-record total of eight saves against Alabama on Aug. 20.

Auburn's first-half attack was paced by forward Jessica Rightmer. The Tigers' midfielder from Austin, Texas, led Auburn with three shot attempts in the opening period.

"One of the main things that I stressed with our players after the match was that if you look at our team tonight, compared with how we played on Aug. 20, we are a much better team now," Yelton said. "I think its tremendous how much we've grown and improved in the last month and I'm very encouraged by tonight as we head into our conference play."

The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Friday at 7 p.m. (CDT) as the begin Southern Conference play with a home match against the Elon Phoenix to be held at Bulldog Field.