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ELON, N.C. -- In its final road match of the regular season, the Samford University soccer team will face one of its biggest challenges of the 2013 campaign as the Bulldogs square off against the second-place Elon Phoenix in a critical Southern Conference contest to be held at Rudd Field (750).
Samford (11-5-1, 4-3-1 SoCon), which is in the midst of its first SoCon losing streak in over three seasons, enters Sunday's showdown as the sixth-place team in the conference standings.
The Bulldogs are coming off back-to-back SoCon losses to The Citadel, 3-2, and UNCG, 3-0. Samford's conference losing streak is its first since Sept. 26, 2010, when the Bulldogs dropped consecutive home matches to Elon and UNCG.
The top four teams in the final league standings will host first-round matches in the upcoming SoCon Tournament. Since joining the conference in 2008, Samford has never been forced to travel for a first-round match in the SoCon Tournament.
Winning Sunday would go a long way towards securing the Bulldogs' first-round bye in the tournament.
Currently, sixth-place Samford trails fourth-place UNCG by a point and is tied with Wofford at 13 points this season. If necessary, the Bulldogs hold a tiebreaker with Wofford, but would lose in a tiebreaker scenario with UNCG.
Elon (11-2-4, 5-1-2 SoCon) heads into Sunday's contest in the midst of a six-match undefeated streak. Since losing to The Citadel on Oct. 4, the Phoenix has tied Wofford, 1-1, and reeled off SoCon victories against Francis Marion, 6-1, Furman, 4-3, Georgia Southern, 3-2, Davidson, 4-2, and Chattanooga.
In Friday's dominant shutout win against Chattanooga, Elon's Nicole Dennion registered a hat trick, the first of her Phoenix career. Dennion's 13 goals are the most in a single season in Elon history since making the transition to the Division I ranks. The 13-goal mark ties Kam Radford for 10th all-time in program history.
The Phoenix will hold a Senior Day presentation prior to Sunday's match. Seniors Angela Funari, Kimmie Krauss, Olivia Mackey, Catherine Brinkman, Simi Dhaliwal, Kendall Stanley, Chelsey Stark and Jennifer McGorty will be playing their final regular-season home match.
Elon's 2013 senior class enters Sunday's contest with a total of 38 career wins, which is the third most by a senior class during Elon's Division I era.
Sunday's match will mark the sixth all-time meeting between Samford and Elon. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series, 3-1-1. Last season, Samford earned a 2-1 victory in Birmingham, Ala., while the teams battled to a 1-1 draw in 2011.
Following Sunday's road showdown at Elon, the Samford University soccer team will next be in action Wednesday at 7 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs face the Chattanooga Lady Mocs in a key SoCon regular-season finale to be held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
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