BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford University soccer team will continue play in its tough 2012 Southern Conference schedule Thursday at 7 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs welcome the Furman Paladins to the Samford Track and Soccer Complex for a momentous early-season conference contest.
 
“This is going to be another tough match for us,” said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. “Furman is ranked 10^th in the region right now and they are the only non-ACC team in that ranking. They are off to a really good start this season and Andrew (Burr) is an outstanding coach. Furman has some very talented players and they've done a great job of finding the back of the net this year.”
 
Samford (5-5, 2-0 SoCon) heads into Thursday's match with hopes of building upon its winning momentum after earning back-to-back road victories at Georgia Southern, 2-1, and Davidson, 2-0, a week ago.
 
For her play in last week's triumphs, Samford's Adrianne Mancino earned SoCon Player of the Week honors Monday as College Sports Madness officially released its prestigious weekly honors.
 
Mancino, the Bulldogs' fiery senior defender from Lancaster, Pa., scored a key goal against Davidson on Sunday and added a pair of assists over the weekend as Samford extended its winning streak to 12-consecutive matches versus SoCon opponents. The Bulldogs have not been defeated by a conference opponent since Nov. 7, 2010.
 
In Samford's victories against Georgia Southern on Friday, 2-1, and at Davidson on Sunday, 2-0, Mancino registered key first-half assists in both of the crucial SoCon road triumphs.
 
Thursday's meeting will mark the Bulldogs' latest home match since dropping a 2-1 decision to in-state rival Jacksonville State on Sept. 16. Samford has only played three matches at home this season and has compiled a 1-2 record at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
 
“It's always a difficult match whenever we play Furman,” Yelton said. “Typically, those games seem to be overtime games and there are a lot of similarities with the teams and the schools. We have the utmost respect for Furman and it should be a great match.”
 
Furman (8-2, 1-1 SoCon) enters Thursday's showdown with hopes of bouncing back from a hard-fought 1-0 road loss at College of Charleston on Sunday. The loss snapped the Paladins' seven-match winning streak as College of Charleston's Maryam Buazza found the back of the net with just 1:13 left in regulation to give the Cougars their slight 1-0 victory.
 
On the game-winning goal, Buazza weaved her way into the right side of the box and unleashed a shot from near the penalty spot that beat Paladin goalkeeper Rose Hull at the 88:47 mark for the only tally of the match.
 
Furman had threatened to break the deadlock several times in the final half hour of regulation as India Robinson rattled a shot off of the cross bar and Stephanie DeVita forced the Cougars' goalkeeper Eli Sarasota into a pair of saves.
 
College of Charleston outshot the Paladins 14-11, including a 6-3 edge in shots on goal, while Furman earned five corner kicks to just three for the Cougars.
 
Prior to Sunday's heartbreaking loss at College of Charleston, Furman's only other defeat on the season was a 2-1 loss at Georgia on Aug. 19. Since then, the Paladins rattled off consecutive victories against Clemson, 1-0, Troy, 1-0, Presbyterian, 2-0, UNC Asheville, 6-0, Jacksonville, 3-1, Stetson, 4-1, and The Citadel, 3-0.
 
Thursday's match will mark the sixth all-time meeting between Samford and Furman. The Bulldogs have never been defeated by the Paladins and own a 5-0 record in the series. Last season, the teams squared off twice on the pitch and Samford proved to be victorious in both meetings.
 
In the Bulldogs' regular-season match held at Furman on Oct. 9, Samford rallied for a 2-1 victory. The teams then met again in the semifinal round of the SoCon Tournament and the Bulldogs posted a thrilling 1-0 double-overtime triumph at the UNCG Soccer Stadium.
 
Samford's Sarah Wilkinson scored the golden goal in the 109^th minute last season to lift the Bulldogs to their 1-0 victory against Furman. Wilkinson's game-winning goal was her third of the season and helped Samford advance to the championship match of the SoCon Tournament.
 
On Wilkinson's golden goal, she stole an errant pass in the box, stepped around a defender and fired the ball into an empty net.
 
“It's going to be a really tight match,” said Yelton. “It's going to be one of those matches where maybe a mistake here or there will lead to a goal either way, but it will definitely be extremely competitive. Our players enjoy competing against Furman and I think its vice-versa with them playing against us. It's going to be a quality soccer match.”
 
Following Thursday's SoCon duel versus Furman, the Samford University soccer team will next be in action Sunday at 1 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs return to the road for a conference matchup against the Wofford Terriers to be held at Snyder Field (2,250) in Spartanburg, S.C.