Sept. 26, 2010

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University soccer team was defeated by the first-place UNC Greensboro Spartans 1-0 on Sunday in a Southern Conference showdown held at Bulldog Field. UNC Greensboro's Jenn Partenheimer scored the game-winning goal during the fourth minute of the match. The goal was Partenheimer's team-leading fourth of the season.

With the loss, Samford (4-5-1, 0-2 SoCon) suffered its first defeat in school history against UNC Greensboro (7-1-1, 2-0 SoCon). The Bulldogs held a 1-0-1 all-time record in the series heading into Sunday's match.

At 3:47 into the contest, the Spartans' Partenheimer gave UNC Greensboro a quick 1-0 lead. The decisive score occurred off a corner kick. On the play, the Spartans' Jaimey Etten served a ball from the left corner high into the box. The ball caromed off a few players from both teams and eventually wound up near Partenheimer on the right flank.

Partenheimer, UNC Greensboro's senior midfielder from Apex, N.C., attempted a quick shot which was blocked by a Samford defender, but rebounded directly back to Partenheimer seven yards from the goal. She then gathered the deflected shot and fired another attempt on goal that snaked into the bottom left corner of the net. UNC Greensboro's Etten was awarded with an assist on the play.

"As the head coach, I take full responsibility for these losses," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "We lost two games this week and they were both on corners. Essentially, that's my job to make sure that we handle those and it's obviously something I need to focus on."

Friday, in Samford's first loss at home in over three years, Elon tallied its game-winning goal off a corner kick as well. The defeat proved to be the Bulldogs' first home setback since a 3-0 loss to Auburn on Sept. 21, 2007. It also snapped Samford's 28-match home undefeated streak which was the fourth-longest in the nation. The Bulldogs compiled a 22-0-6 record at Bulldog Field during the stretch.

Despite falling behind early, Samford fought back in the match and dictated a good portion of Sunday's contest. The Bulldogs started off a bit slow, but outshot the Spartans 7-4 in the second period, including a pair of attempts that ricocheted off the crossbar.

Samford finished the contest with 11 shot attempts and forced UNC Greensboro's Kelsey Kearney to make a game-high six saves. The Spartans rattled off 12 shot attempts Sunday, but only four were on goal.

"I thought we played very well in the second half against Elon and after the first 10 minutes of today's match I thought we were really good," Yelton said. "Our players put in a lot of effort and gave us workmanlike performances. We certainly had chances to get on the board, but I have to give full credit to Greensboro and the fact that they prevented us from scoring."

With the win, UNC Greensboro continued one of the best starts in school history. The Spartans' 2010 squad is now one of just two teams in school history to have just one loss through its first nine games. The other was the 1991 squad, which opened 9-1.

The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Friday at 6 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs begin a three-match road trip against the College of Charleston Cougars at Patriots Point in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

"I think that the positives we can take from this weekend are that even with the adversity that we've faced, our players are still a quality side," said Yelton. "We have a lot of players now logging 90 minutes on both Friday and Sunday with our limited roster, but I think that if we can sort out how we defend corners, and get a touch better on attacking the net, then I think we'll win a lot of games this season."