Oct. 2, 2011

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University soccer team remained undefeated in Southern Conference play Sunday as the Bulldogs played to a scoreless draw against The Citadel Bulldogs in a physical league contest held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.

"It was a very physical match and there were 31 fouls called today," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "There might have even been a few left on the table for sure. I give full credit to The Citadel. They were hard-working and they fought like crazy. They were very blue-collar in their approach to the day and they made it very difficult for us. They fully deserved the result that they earned and obviously we feel a little disappointed with our effort today."

With Sunday's draw, Samford (4-5-2, 2-0-2 SoCon) completed an arduous week of matches with a 2-0-1 record. On Monday, the Bulldogs notched a 1-0 victory at preseason-favorite UNCG before tallying a thrilling 2-1 overtime win against College of Charleston on Friday.

Samford will next be in action Thursday as the Bulldogs conclude their key three-match SoCon homestand against Wofford at 7 p.m.

The Citadel (4-6-2, 2-1-1 SoCon) completed their weekend road trip with a 1-0-1 record. On Friday, the Cadets picked up a 2-1 triumph at Chattanooga.

With Sunday's result, Samford moved its all-time record against The Citadel to 4-0-1. Last season, Samford exploded for a 7-0 victory in Charleston, S.C., before earning a come-from-behind 4-3 win in the semifinal round of the 2010 SoCon Tournament.

"The Citadel has a special team and they have some really good attacking players," Yelton said. "I thought their players brought a different mentality to the game. I thought our players were up for a nice, polite game of soccer, while their team added a bit more grit and determination to the contest. A lot of times that's the difference between a win and a loss, and I'm certain that (The Citadel head coach) Bob (Winch) is really proud of his players. They certainly battled for the entire match."

Sunday's showdown was extremely physical and a total of 31 fouls were called throughout the 110 minutes of play. The Citadel was handed three yellow cards, while Samford finished with one. The Citadel was also whistled for 20 of the matches 31 fouls.

Both teams registered scoring opportunities as each team finished with 12 shots apiece. Nine of The Citadel's shot attempts were on goal, while Samford tallied three.

Alyssa Whitehead, Samford's senior goalkeeper, tied her season-high of nine saves Sunday. She made a number of goal-saving stops and equaled Friday's total of nine saves. So far this season, the Bulldogs' 6-foot-3 native of Hattiesburg, Miss., has recorded 71 saves and three shutouts.

With Sunday's 110-minute shutout of The Citadel, Whitehead extended her all-time Samford career record in the category to 29.

"Alyssa was huge for us today," said Yelton. "I also have to give full credit to Katie (Danehy) and Sabbath (McKiernan-Allen), because they played every minute of the weekend and did a tremendous job for us."

Samford's offensive attack was spearheaded by true freshman Joy Grove who finished with four shot attempts. Fellow true freshman Amanda Abbott tallied three shots, with two being on goal. Senior Sarah Wilkinson rifled off two shot attempts Sunday, while Shannon Weathington, Trine Taule and Michelle Moll all added one shot apiece.

"At the end of the day, I don't think we reached full match strength in going after goals until the last 10 minutes," Yelton said. "If you do it that way then you're going to wind up being disappointed much more than you'll be happy. With that in mind, our defense did an outstanding job. Our defense threw a shutout and at the end of the day, if your goalkeeper and your back four shut out a team as good as The Citadel, then you're thinking that ought to be good enough to win."

The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Thursday at 7 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs complete their current three-match homestand against the Wofford Terriers in another key SoCon contest to be held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.