Box Score
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- The Samford University soccer team's run towards a fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in nine seasons came to an end Friday as the No. 4-seeded Bulldogs dropped a 2-0 decision to the top-seeded Furman Paladins in the semifinal round of the Southern Conference Championship held at Snyder Field.
Samford (13-6-2) outshot
Furman (16-3-2), 19-10, and garnered an 8-2 edge in corner kicks, but the Paladins' Rose Hull proved to be stellar in goal as she registered seven crucial saves. With her shutout victory, Hull improved to 12-1-1 this season.
Furman's Carlie Couch scored in the first half and Jamie Alexander in the second frame as the Paladins recorded their second straight finals appearance and 12th overall.
Furman will take on No. 2 seed Elon in the SoCon Championship match Sunday at noon (CST). The contest will air live on ESPN3 with Darren Goldwater and Charlie Slagel on the call.
Eight minutes into Friday's semifinal, Furman scored its first goal of the evening as the last two SoCon freshmen of the year connected for the score. Stephanie DeVita, the 2012 winner, sent a pass to Couch, this season's top rookie, on the right flank. Couch then deposited her 12th goal of the season to the far post to give the Paladins the early advantage.
With just over 11 minutes remaining in the first half, Samford had its best opportunity of the period when
Hallie Georgi found
Malcanisha Kelley in stride for a one-on-one with Furman goalkeeper Rose Hull. Hull came off her line and smothered Kelley's attempt from 15 yards out to keep the Bulldogs off the board.
Furman's Alexander made it a 2-0 match shortly after halftime, blasting a shot from nearly 20 yards out that Samford goalkeeper
Melissa Montgomery got hands on but couldn't corral in the 48th minute. Montgomery appeared to make the stop, but the ball squirted through her grasp and she couldn't keep it out of the back of the net despite a diving effort after it.
Samford never lost its fight throughout the match and rattled off 13 shot attempts in the second frame, but saw several dangerous opportunities go begging.
In the 69th minute, senior
Michelle Moll sent in a long-distance line drive that just missed the upper right 90. Minutes later, true freshman
Sara Smeltzer collected a
Shanika Thomas corner kick and sent a low liner just wide of the far post.
Samford had another good scoring chance thwarted in the 76th minute, when
Trine Taule's shot off a
Jordan Johnson corner kick was blocked and cleared after a scrum in the box.
Furman had an outstanding chance to pad its lead with 13 minutes left as Couch got loose on a breakaway. Samford goalkeeper
Dale Steinagle, who come on after Montgomery's miscue, came off her line to snuff the opportunity with the close-range save.
Samford had one last solid scoring chance when Second-Team All-SoCon performer
Molly Pittman put a header on frame in the 80th minute, but Hull backpedaled and punched the ball over the crossbar for the save.
Samford goalkeepers Montgomery and Steinagle finished with two saves each, with Montgomery allowing both goals to fall to 6-3-2.
Despite not reaching their goal of ultimately earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament, the Bulldogs turned in a historic 2013 season. Samford finished the year with 13 wins, a total that ranks tied for fourth-best in school history. The Bulldogs also went 3-0 against Southeastern Conference opponents as they defeated Auburn, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
The Samford soccer program loses five extremely talented seniors in
Mary Grabowsky, Johnson, Moll, Taule and Thomas, but the remaining 19 players on the roster will all be coming back next season with a year of experience under their belts and similar aspirations of reaching the NCAA Tournament.
