Box Score BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford University soccer team suffered its first home defeat in over a year Friday as the Bulldogs dropped a physical 2-1 contest against the Kennesaw State Owls in a hard-fought non-conference matchup held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
 
Prior to Friday's setback, Samford's (3-4) previous home loss was 4-2 defeat versus Auburn on Sept. 9, 2011. The Bulldogs own a 9-4-1 record when playing at the 17-month-year-old Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
 
“The biggest thing about tonight is that we didn't have the right mentality to start the match,” said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. “That comes back to me as a head coach and it was my fault that I didn't have my players ready to go. That falls on my shoulders. We need to realize that when you have success then people want to beat you even more. I felt that Kennesaw State had the right mentality from the very beginning and that put us under some pressure early.”
 
Kennesaw State (4-4) scored both of its goals in the first 21 minutes of play. The Owls' dynamic goal-scorer Danielle Gray notched her fifth goal of the season in the fourth minute before Jewelia Strickland bounced home a 45-yard free kick at 20:49.
 
Strickland's high, one-hopping goal was her first score of the 2012 season.
 
“For us, everything that could have gone wrong in the game did go wrong,” Yelton said. “We have no one to blame but ourselves, because we dug ourselves in that hole.”
 
At halftime, Samford was outshooting Kennesaw State, 7-4, but trailed in the match 2-0. The Bulldogs were getting a number of viable scoring opportunities, just not finding the back of the net. Samford's Brittany Hoffman rattled off five shot attempts in the opening 45 minutes of play, while junior Michelle Moll and sophomore Joy Grove each attempted one shot apiece.
 
In the second half of play, Samford increased its offensive pressure on Kennesaw State and added 18 more shot attempts.
 
The Owls' goalkeeper Melissa Hutto registered nine key saves in the second half alone and finished the contest with 10 stops. Kennesaw State's wily senior from Pensacola, Fla., made a number of diving, goal-saving stops, and the Bulldogs also hit either the crossbar or the post five times.
 
In the ninth minute of the second half, Samford was fouled in the box and was awarded with a penalty kick at exactly 53:30. Jordan Johnson, the Bulldogs' junior transfer from Florida State, took the penalty kick and rifled a shot to the right post that caromed off the right post and bounded back to Grove at the 15-yard mark. Grove then fired a shot that nearly gave Samford its first score of the match, but it barely missed high.
 
“Jordan struck it well and just miss-hit it by an inch,” said Yelton. “I have full confidence in Jordan and she's a great player and a great person. I'm sure she's going to help us win a lot of games here at Samford before she's done.”
 
Midway through the second half, Samford's Amanda Abbott tallied her first goal of the season as she trimmed Kennesaw State's lead to 2-1 in the 74^th minute of action. On Abbott's score, Joy Grove dribbled her way past a pair of Owl defenders at the top of the box and slipped forward a pass perfectly to Abbott on the left flank. Abbott took a couple of touches and then fired the shot far post for the goal.
 
The assist was Grove's first of the season.
 
Samford played Friday without the services of reigning SoCon Player of the Week Kaley Blanton. Blanton, who scored three goals last week en route to all-tournament honors at the 2012 Cardinal Classic, was forced to sit out the contest with a leg injury.
 
“Not having Kaley tonight was a huge loss for us, but in those situations it creates opportunities for other players and I thought Amanda Abbott did a great job tonight with the opportunity given. She really had a good match for us tonight.”
 
Following Abbott's goal, Samford's offensive attack was further emboldened and play was consistently forced to Kennesaw State's half of the field. The Bulldogs continued to blast shot after shot late in the half, but the Owls were able to thwart Samford's efforts.
 
The Bulldogs outnumbered Kennesaw State, 8-1, in corner kicks and outshot the Owls 25-6.
 
A total of 18 players saw the field for Samford Friday, while Kennesaw State only used 12. The Bulldogs were obviously the more rested team late in the match, but the Owls didn't back down a bit.
 
“Kennesaw State has only played 12 all year long, so I don't think that fitness was a really big issue at all,” Yelton said. “I think missed opportunities was the recurring theme for us tonight. We gave away goals tonight that we shouldn't have given up and we didn't finish our chances when we had the opportunity.”
 
The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Sunday at 7 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs continue their brief two-match homestand versus the Jacksonville State Gamecocks in an in-state duel to be held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.