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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- For 45 minutes Friday, it seemed as if the Samford soccer team's hopes for a Southern Conference regular-season title might be dashed by a familiar culprit, but the Bulldogs came out in the second half of play and surged for three quick goals en route to a key 3-1 home victory over The Citadel Bulldogs held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
 
Samford's senior class was honored prior to the match and with a win Sunday against Mercer, the Bulldogs' Amanda Abbott, Katie Danehy, Brittany Hoffman and Melissa Montgomery will be able to close out their careers as conference champions.
 
"In the first half, I was pretty disappointed with our attack, but then in the second half, we were really able to get a lift from some of our outside players and it really made a difference," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "I'm glad we were able to get a big win for our seniors. They are a fantastic bunch and an outstanding group of players and people. They are going to be fantastic representatives of Samford University."
 
Samford (11-7, 6-2 SoCon) fell behind midway through the first half as The Citadel's Lea Raedle notched her fifth goal of the season with a tally in the 23^rd minute. Raedle's score was set up by a perfectly-placed crossing pass from Montana Hinson. The assist was Hinson's second of the season.
 
The Citadel (5-13, 1-7 SoCon) took a 1-0 lead into halftime despite being outshot by the Bulldogs, 8-3, in the opening 45 minutes of action.
 
Samford, behind some motivational words from Yelton at halftime, came out full speed in the second period and flipped into attack mode on the offensive side of the field.
 
"We made a few adjustments at halftime that helped us, but I really think that Bob (Winch) is an outstanding coach and The Citadel is always a tough matchup for us," Yelton said. "We were fortunate enough to get three key goals in the end and now we just need to try to heal up and get ready for Sunday."
 
The Bulldogs rattled off 14 shot attempts in the final period alone and quickly scored in the 54^th minute to even the match at 1-1. Samford's equalizing goal came off the foot of sophomore Jermaine Seoposenwe as she rifled home a shot into the top shelf from 20 yards out. The score proved to be Seoposenwe's seventh of the season.
 
Seoposenwe, the Bulldogs' dominant attacking forward from Cape Town, South Africa, played a crucial role in all three of Samford's goals Friday. She scored the team's first goal at 53:45 and then assisted on the Bulldogs' final two scores. Seoposenwe leads Samford with 22 points this season (seven goals and eight assists).
 
Junior Ariane Lukens gathered a corner kick from Seoposenwe and knocked home the game-winning goal of the match in the 63^rd minute.
 
Lukens' score was her third of the season and her first game-winner of the 2014 campaign. The Bulldogs' talented native of Arvada, Colo., gave Samford its decisive 2-1 advantage at exactly 62:31.
 
It's always fitting for a senior to score a goal on Senior Night, and the Bulldogs' Abbott came through in the clutch Friday with a key insurance score in the 69^th minute of play. Abbott currently leads the team with eight goals this season and is ranked among the top five goal-scorers in Samford history.
 
The Bulldogs outshot The Citadel, 22-5, and won the corner kick battle, 11-2.
 
Samford goalkeeper Anna Maddox tallied the 11^th victory of her promising career and tallied three outstanding saves.
 
"In the second half, we came out and played really hard and we were able to get the results that we wanted at the end of our runs," Abbott said. "That was huge for us, because we just need one more win and then we'll be conference champions, so that's exciting."
 
With a win Sunday against Mercer, the Bulldogs would garner at least a share of the 2014 SoCon regular-season championship.
 
"We're going to have to put together a full 90 minutes to have a chance to beat Mercer," Yelton said. "They are at the top of the table right now and if we want to be there at the end, then we're going to have to play much better than we did in the first half tonight."
 
The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Sunday at 2 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs close out their regular-season schedule at home against SoCon-newcomer, the Mercer Bears, in a huge league showdown to be held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
 
Mercer heads into the weekend undefeated in SoCon play and as the first-place team in the conference standings with a 6-0-2 record. The Bears defeated Chattanooga, 8-1, on Friday.
 
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Box Score
Updated Samford Stats