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GREENVILLE, S.C. -- In a matchup that could most likely determine the champion of the 2013 Southern Conference regular season, the Samford University soccer team heads to South Carolina for a highly-anticipated contest Sunday against the Furman Paladins to be held at Eugene E. Stone, III Stadium at 1 p.m. (CDT).
Furman (8-2-1, 2-0 SoCon) entered the 2013 campaign as the preseason favorite to win the SoCon championship.
Samford (8-2-1, 2-01 SoCon) was predicted to place second by the league's 11 head coaches in a poll released by the conference office on Aug. 15.
The Bulldogs head into Sunday's showdown riding the positive momentum of a seven-match undefeated streak. Since dropping a hard-fought 2-0 decision at Texas on Sept. 6, Samford has rattled off victories against UTSA, Vanderbilt, Kennesaw State, Georgia State, Davidson and Wofford. The Bulldogs also played to a 0-0 home draw with Georgia Southern on Sept. 27.
On Thursday, Samford remained undefeated at home this season as the Bulldogs posted a 2-1 SoCon victory against a tough, scrappy Wofford squad that entered the contest riding a five-match winning streak. Samford improved to 6-0-1 at the Samford Track and Stadium with the triumph.
The Bulldogs received goals from true freshman
Taylor Borman and senior midfielder
Trine Taule on Thursday en route to its 2-1 victory over Wofford.
Borman, the Bulldogs' highly-touted native of Georgetown, Ky., scored the opening goal of the match in the 20
th minute to give Samford an early 1-0 lead.
The Terriers then evened the score at 1-1 just 2:19 before halftime when Faith Lifer tallied her first goal of the season on an assist from Maggie Bosley. The goal came off a free kick from just outside of Samford's 18-yard box.
Samford outshot Wofford, 24-8, on Thursday, but the Bulldogs' most important shot of the night came off the head of Taule in the 70
th minute.
With the score still deadlocked at 1-1, Samford registered one of its six corner kicks from the right side of the field where senior
Jordan Johnson sent a hooking crossing pass into the box. On the ideal pass, Taule broke brilliantly to her right and headed home the game-winner into the right corner of the net.
Taule's decisive goal came at exactly 69:02 into the match and gave Samford its key 2-1 advantage. The score proved to be Taule's fifth of the season and the 21st of her illustrious career. With eight matches remaining in the regular-season, the Bulldogs' impressive senior from Frekhaug, Norway, finds herself just five goals behind former Samford-great Marian Wagner for the all-time school record.
Heading into Sunday's game, Furman is unbeaten in its last eight matches and is riding a five-match winning streak. The Paladins have outscored their 11 opponents by a combined score of 32-7 and have posted a combined 16-0 score line in SoCon victories over The Citadel and Chattanooga.
Furman sophomore Stephanie DeVita has paced the Paladins and the SoCon with nine goals this season and five match-winning scores. Junior India Robinson leads the club and all of NCAA Division I soccer with 12 assists. Nine different Paladins have scored at least two goals so far this season and 19 of Furman's 32 goals have been scored by freshmen or sophomores.
Sunday's match marks just the seventh all-time meeting between the Samford and Furman with the Bulldogs holding a 5-0-1 series lead. The Paladins notched their first point versus Samford last season by earning a 2-2 draw in Birmingham, Ala.
Following Sunday's highly-anticipated matchup at Furman, the Samford University soccer team will next be in action Friday at 6 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs continue their midseason, three-match road swing against the Western Carolina Catamounts in yet another key league contest to be held in Cullowhee, N.C.
For the most up-to-date information on Samford soccer please follow
@Samford_Sports and
@SamfordSoccer on Twitter.
Live Stats
Live Video ($9.95)
Samford Media Guide
