Oct. 30, 2011

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The top-seeded Samford University soccer team extended its winning streak to eight-consecutive matches Sunday as the Bulldogs tallied a 2-1 home victory against the Western Carolina Catamounts in the opening round of the 2011 Southern Conference Tournament held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.

"I thought that in the first half we were excellent and played very well," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "In the second half, it's not that we played poorly, but Western Carolina just played really well. Western Carolina never quit and we feel fortunate that we didn't give up another goal there at the end of the match to go into overtime."

With the triumph, Samford (12-5-2) advanced to the semifinal round of the eight-team SoCon Tournament where the Bulldogs will square off against the fifth-seeded Furman Paladins on Friday at 4 p.m. (CDT). Earlier on Sunday, Furman knocked off the No. 4-seed Davidson in Davidson, N.C., 2-1, to advance in the SoCon Tournament.

The semifinals and finals of the 2011 SoCon Tournament will be held at the UNCG Soccer Stadium in Greensboro, N.C. The tournament will be hosted by UNCG, but on Sunday, the second-seeded UNCG Spartans were upended at home by No. 7-seed Georgia Southern, 2-1, in first-round action.

"I think that just shows the depth of this league," Yelton said. "You had the seventh-seeded team knocking off the No. 2 seed and then Western Carolina, the No. 8 team, certainly challenged us tonight. The depth and quality of this league makes it, in my mind, one of the tougher leagues in the country."

Samford scored both of its goals Sunday within a 1:17 stretch late in the first half.

At 38:54 into the match, the Bulldogs' Amanda Abbott outran a trio of Catamount defenders to tally her third goal of the season. On the score, which gave Samford an initial 1-0 lead, Shanika Thomas sent a perfectly-placed downfield pass 40 yards down the right flank. Abbott, the Bulldogs' speedy freshman from Marietta, Ga., streaked to the ball and sent it far and to the left of the charging goalkeeper.

Samford's Thomas earned her second assist of the season on the goal.

Less than two minutes later, the Bulldogs struck again as senior Shannon Weathington tallied the first goal of her career at 40:11 to give Samford a 2-0 advantage. On Weathington's game-winning goal, freshman Joy Grove sent a lofting pass into the box where there were numerous players vying for position.

Grove's pass bounced around a couple times and bounded towards the left post where Weathington dove and kicked the ball home for the score.

"That was key for us, because those are two reserves that came on and got the goals," Yelton said. "Amanda did a great job of getting behind the defense and then she did well to finish the goal. Then on Shannon's goal, I thought that Joy did a great job of flicking the ball on and then Shannon was fearless in scoring what turned out to be the game-winner. Obviously, that second goal turned out to be huge for us."

The 2011 season came to an end Sunday for Western Carolina (9-10-1). The Catamounts rattled off nine shots against Samford and were paced by Tara Budnick's third goal of the season in the 68th minute of play. On Western Carolina's lone goal of the match, Budnick headed a pass from Samantha Hodge into the right-hand corner of the net from the left side of the goalkeeper's box.

Hodge, the Catamounts' junior midfielder from Louisville, Ky., tallied her team-leading sixth assist of the season on the score.

Western Carolina outshot Samford 7-5 in the second half and came close to tying the match if it wasn't for a pair of game-saving stops by the Bulldogs' Alyssa Whitehead. Whitehead, Samford top goalkeeper in school history, finished Sunday's contest with five key stops, two of which occurred late to maintain the Bulldogs' one-goal lead.

"There were a couple of point-blank shots there where Alyssa definitely came up big for us," Yelton said. "At this point in the season, if you want to win a championship, then your goalkeeper is going to have to make some of those saves for you."

Offensively, Samford's attack was paced by redshirt freshman Brittany Hoffman. The Bulldogs' explosive native of Knoxville, Tenn., rattled off four shot attempts, including a shot on goal. No one else on Samford's team attempted more than just one shot attempt.

"Every one of our players works hard and they are certainly high-character people," Yelton said. "I certainly enjoy being around them and that's one thing for us is that we want to keep winning because we know that when we're in that locker room after a loss will be the last time that this group will be together. That's why we want to be ready to make it last as long as we can."

Samford has won eight straight matches and has not been defeated since a 2-0 setback at Vanderbilt on Sept. 18. Since then, the Bulldogs have set a school record with a 12-match undefeated streak.

"Our team is playing with a great bit of confidence right now," said Yelton. "At this point in time, it's just survive and advance. I don't think we were our best at times in the second half tonight, but our team found a way to get the win and Furman will be quite a challenge for us on Friday night. They are a quality side, they are well-coached Rachel Shelnutt is in my mind one of the best players in the league. There will be nothing easy about the rest of the season from this point on."

The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Friday at 4 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs square off against the fifth-seeded Furman Lady Paladins in the semifinal round of the 2011 SoCon Tournament at the UNCG Soccer Stadium in Greensboro, N.C.