2011 Samford Soccer Season Review - - "A Championship Run"

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The 2011 Samford soccer season will go down in school lore as one of best years in program history. The Bulldogs finished the campaign with a 14-6-2 overall record and went undefeated in Southern Conference play for the first time at 9-0-2. Samford blazed its way to the SoCon regular-season title and earned its first SoCon Tournament championship with thrilling victories against Western Carolina, Furman and College of Charleston. The Bulldogs also set school records with a 10-match winning streak and a 14-match undefeated streak.

Under the tutelage of Head Coach Todd Yelton, Samford has earned three NCAA Tournament appearances, including the Bulldogs' 2011 trip to Tallahassee, Fla., for a first-round matchup against the sixth-ranked Florida State Seminoles. Samford hung tough with the eventual Final Four participant, but dropped a 2-0 decision on the road at the Seminole Soccer Complex.
 
In the highly-anticipated NCAA Tournament showdown, the teams battled through nearly 58 minutes of scoreless soccer when the Seminoles' Janice Cayman tallied the game-winning goal at exactly 57:34 into the match. On the score, which was her sixth of the season, Cayman touched home a crossing pass from Tiffany McCarty from five yards out. McCarty's assist came from the right flank at about 14 yards away. The helper was McCarty's fifth of the season.
 
Nearly eight minutes later, Florida State's Tiana Brockway scored her second goal of the season at 64:58 to five the Seminoles their decisive 2-0 advantage. On Brockway's unassisted score, Florida State's junior from Tacoma, Wash., found the upper left corner of the net on a right-footed strike from 17 yards out.
 
Samford's Alyssa Whitehead, the Bulldogs' First-Team All-SoCon goalkeeper turned in a season-high with 10 saves in the match. She also set Samford's single-season saves record with 120 by surpassing former Bulldog-great Crystal Royall's previous mark of 116, which was set in 2002.
 
“I'd definitely say I'm just really thankful to have had a great coaching staff,” said Whitehead after the match. “The fact that they believed in me, because when I was looking at schools most people didn't believe that I could have the ability to play at a high level. The fact that they did that, I knew I was meant to be at Samford. Through the four years of being here, I've grown so much just as a person and also on the field, thanks to them and wonderful teammates. It's just a blessing to be a part of Samford. It's really special. With this team right here, I have this bond that's going to be eternal. That's even more important.”
 
Yelton, the Bulldogs' winningest coach in school history, has led his team to the NCAA Tournament in three of the previous seven seasons, including a second-round trip in 2005 after Samford advanced past 19^th-ranked Vanderbilt in a penalty-kick shootout. He has propelled the Bulldogs to national prominence in 10 years at the helm and was awarded with 2011 SoCon Coach of the Year accolades. Yelton has led his team to five regular-season conference titles, three NCAA Tournament appearances and a pair of conference tournament championships.
 
Samford navigated its way through the 2011 SoCon season with an unbeaten record and claimed its first SoCon championship since joining the talent-laden league in 2008. For their hard work, the Bulldogs were rewarded with six all-conference members and four First-Team All-SoCon players.
 
Headlining the all-conference teams were four Bulldogs, led by senior goalkeeper Whitehead. Joining Whitehead on the first team were teammates Sarah Wilkinson at forward, Michelle Moll at midfielder and Sabbath McKiernan-Allen at defender. Samford's Joy Grove and Brittany Hoffman were also named to the SoCon's All-Freshman Team.
 
The Bulldogs' opened their 2011 campaign with a 2-0 home victory against Belmont. In the shutout win, Samford used goals from true freshmen Amanda Abbott and Joy Grove to earn the triumph in the inaugural match held at the brand-new Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
 
The state-of-the-art Samford Track and Soccer Stadium includes locker rooms, a ticket office and a high-tech press box. With the addition of the facility, Samford has already hosted the 2011 SoCon Track and Field Championships and is slated to host the SoCon championship in soccer in 2012.
 
Following the Bulldogs' season-opening victory against Belmont, Samford dropped three-straight matches against Alabama, 2-1, UAB, 1-0, and 25^th-ranked Memphis, 2-0. On Sept. 2, Samford bounced back with a decisive 4-1 victory at Kennesaw State, but then fell short in back-to-back matches against No. 23 Auburn, 4-2, and Vanderbilt, 2-0.
 
The Bulldogs started conference play on Sept. 24, with a 1-1 draw at Elon before notching consecutive key SoCon victories against UNCG, 1-0, and College of Charleston, 2-1.

In Samford's critical win over perennial league-champion UNCG, sophomore Michelle Moll scored the game-winning goal in the 70^th minute of play. Moll, the Bulldogs' All-SoCon Preseason performer, notched her first goal of the 2011 campaign following a crossing pass from freshman Brittany Hoffman. On the decisive score, Moll gathered Hoffman's cross from the right wing and curled a shot neatly into the bottom left corner of the net. The assist was Hoffman's second of the season.
 
“This was a great win for our team and I'm extremely proud of our players,” said Yelton following the UNCG match. “I thought we gave great effort and it feels fantastic to be able to get the win. We played 110 minutes against Elon the other night, and I know that our players were drained, but they never gave up and competed hard until the final whistle.”
 
Samford's 2-1 overtime victory against College of Charleston proved to be just as important for the Bulldogs' 2011 championship run. At home on Sept. 30, senior Sarah Wilkinson tallied the 10^th game-winning goal of her storied career as she registered the match's golden goal in the seventh minute of overtime to defeat College of Charleston, 2-1, at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
 
With the victory, Samford remained undefeated in conference play and moved into a tie for first place in the SoCon standings.

“This was a great win for us against a quality opponent,” Yelton said. “Charleston made it very hard on us 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.”
 
Whitehead, who is currently playing professionally in Sweden, became the all-time record-holder in career shutouts and registered a season-high 120 saves in 2011. The Bulldogs' 6-foot-3 goalkeeper started in 50-consecutive matches to close out her four-year career and accumulated a school-record 32 shutouts, including six last year.
 
Whitehead shattered the previous career record of 24.5 shutouts during her junior season and received Second-Team All-SoCon accolades in 2010. During her well-documented career at Samford, she was recognized by the SoCon in each of her four seasons and garnered NSCAA All-Southeast Regional honors as a sophomore after she finished the year with the best goals-against average in the nation.
 
As a Bulldog, Whitehead helped lead her team to a pair of NCAA Tournaments and the first undefeated conference season in school history.
 
Following Samford's key victories against SoCon-rivals UNCG and College of Charleston, the Bulldogs continued their solid play throughout the conference season and maintained a high level of action en route to a 14-match undefeated streak and a 10-match winning streak. Both of the aforementioned streaks were the longest in Samford history.
 
The Bulldogs closed out their regular-season schedule with consecutive SoCon victories against Wofford, 3-0, Furman, 2-1, Appalachian State, 2-1, Western Carolina, 1-0, Davidson, 2-0, Georgia Southern, 1-0, Chattanooga, 2-1, and then opened the 2011 SoCon Tournament with a 2-1 home win over Western Carolina. With their postseason triumph over the Catamounts, the Bulldogs concluded the year with a brilliant 8-3-1 record at home, including an undefeated 5-0-1 mark versus conference opponents.
 
On Nov. 4, top-seeded Samford squared off against Furman in the semifinal round of the SoCon Tournament and used a thrilling double-overtime goal from Wilkinson to earn a 1-0 victory. With less than two minutes remaining in double overtime, Wilkinson stole an errant pass in the box, stepped around a defender and fired the ball into an empty net for the golden goal.
 
“Sarah's been our emotional leader all season long and whenever we need a big goal, she seems to come up with it,” said Yelton following the victory. “I'm extremely happy for her in getting the game-winning goal. I'm proud of all the hard work she's put in this season and she deserves this to happen. She's definitely been our most clutch goal-scorer as of late.”
 
Samford earned its first SoCon Tournament title on Nov. 6, by defeating the College of Charleston in the championship match. Junior Adrianne Mancino scored the game-winning goal in the 88^th minute to secure the Bulldogs' win. The score was Mancino's third of the 2011 campaign. Shanika Thomas, who is currently Samford's 2012 Team Captain, was named the Most Outstanding Player of the SoCon Tournament.
 
Mancino's blast from 25 yards out with less than three minutes remaining in regulation proved to be the winning tally as No. 1-seed Samford defeated No. 3 College of Charleston at the UNCG Soccer Stadium. On the decisive score, Mancino collected the ball and dribbled into space before launching her shot just above the outstretched arms of Charleston goalkeeper Cricket Wise at the 87:29 mark. The goal spoiled an exceptional effort by Wise who recorded five saves and kept the Bulldogs at bay for much of the match.
 
In its remarkable 2011 campaign, Samford advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in seven seasons and improved its record against SoCon opponents to 38-5-10 since joining the 12-team conference in 2008.

The Samford University soccer team will begin competitive play in its 2012 season Friday at 6 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs play host to the Georgia State Panthers in an exhibition contest to be held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium. Admission is free to ALL Samford home soccer matches.

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