Sept. 30, 2011

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Samford's Sarah Wilkinson entered the 2011 season ranked second on the Southern Conference's all-time records list in game-winning goals with nine. On Friday, she tallied the 10th of her storied career as she registered the match's golden goal in the seventh minute of overtime to defeat the College of Charleston Cougars, 2-1, at the Samford Soccer Stadium.

With the victory, Samford (4-5-1, 2-0-1 SoCon) remained undefeated in conference play and moved into a tie for first place in the SoCon standings. Both Samford and Furman sit atop the league with identical 2-0-1 records.

"This was a great win for us against a quality opponent," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "Charleston made it very hard on us tonight and I have to give a lot of credit to Coach (Christian) Michner and his staff, because I thought their approach to the match was brilliant. I certainly think there was a bit of good fortune in us getting this result. Alyssa (Whitehead) came up big on some saves and this was a quality win for us."

With the loss, College of Charleston (6-4, 2-0 SoCon) had its two-match winning streak snapped and fell to 1-3-1 in its all-time series against Samford. Last week, the Cougars opened SoCon play with home victories over Appalachian State, 2-1, and Western Carolina, 3-2.

Samford's game-winning goal Friday was scored in the 97th minute of play. On the decisive score, the Bulldogs' Shanika Thomas stole the ball from a College of Charleston midfielder and drove up the right flank where she found Kaley Blanton just outside the box on the right wing.

Blanton, Samford's junior forward from Mandeville, La., then sped past a pair of Cougar defenders and rifled a crossing pass perfectly into the goalkeeping box. As the ball was touched in from Blanton, Wilkinson made her run from the left flank and perfectly timed her shot into the back of the net.

Wilkinson's game-winning goal was the 10th of her career, which set a Samford record in the category. With Friday's tally, she surpassed former Bulldog-greats Heather Birdsell and Marian Wagner, whom each finished their careers with nine.

On the golden goal, both Blanton and Thomas were awarded with assists.

"That last goal we scored, there were several things that happened really well for us," Yelton said. "A lot of times in this game, goals are scored off mistakes, but I thought that goal was one that we fully earned. It wasn't one that anybody gave us and it was a quality goal."

Samford jumped out to an early 1-0 lead Friday as true freshman Joy Grove notched her second goal of the season in the 18th minute. Grove, the Bulldogs' speedy midfielder from Midlothian, Va., tallied her score as she dribbled one-v-one on the goalkeeper's right side and then fired a shot into the left corner of the net. The goal was set up by redshirt freshman Brittany Hoffman who sent in a perfectly-placed pass.

The assist was Hoffman's team-leading third of the 2011 campaign.

"Joy's goal was key because an early goal always makes things better," said Yelton. "If you get the early goal then you're definitely swimming downstream instead of upstream, but if you're playing from behind then you're chasing the game and that makes things a lot more difficult. We were extremely happy get that early goal and to eventually get this quality win."

The momentum of the match seemed to shift a bit towards College of Charleston in the 58th minute as Ali Brashear tallied her first goal of the season. On the scoring play, she rifled a shot from the left wing that caromed off the left post and directly back to her feet. Samford goalkeeper Alyssa Whitehead dove out to her right on the first shot attempt, which left the net open for Brashear's second shot and the Cougars' lone goal of the match.

"In the first half, I would say that we had the run of play," Yelton said. "But then in the second half, I would say that they had the run of play, so it was basically the tale of two halves. Eventually, when all was said and done, we were able to come out on top and get the victory."

Whitehead, Samford's All-SoCon performer, pulled down a season-high nine saves Friday, including a pair in which College of Charleston would have scored against any other team in the nation. Whitehead, who is arguably one of the top goalkeepers in the SoCon, used her athletic 6-foot-3 frame to jump high and to the corner twice to make near impossible saves against the Cougars.

On the season, Whitehead has accumulated 62 saves and is already Samford's all-time record-holder with 28 career shutouts.

Midway through the second half, Samford's Amanda Abbott was driving towards the goal and was blatantly pulled down in the box by a College of Charleston defender. The Cougars' foul prompted a Bulldog penalty kick, but Samford's Thomas fired the attempt high over the crossbar to keep the score tied at 1-1.

"Shanika logged a lot of minutes for us tonight and she's logged a lot of minutes for us this entire season, so I think at that point in time fatigue played a part in the penalty kick," Yelton said. "Shanika has been one of our best players all year and we wouldn't have gotten this result tonight if it wasn't for how well she played. She never got down, she played hard the entire match and she even helped set up the game-winning goal. She's a true winner and a true competitor."

College of Charleston outshot Samford 18-9 on Friday, but the Bulldogs won the corner kick battle, 7-6.

The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Sunday at 2 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs continue their three-match conference homestand against The Citadel Bulldogs in a rematch of the 2010 SoCon Tournament semifinals to be held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.