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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University soccer team will begin its quest for the 2014 Southern Conference Tournament title Saturday at 7 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs welcome The Citadel Bulldogs to the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium for a marquee quarterfinal-round contest.
 
Samford (12-7, 7-2 SoCon), which earned its second SoCon regular-season championship in four years Sunday, heads into the 10-team tournament as the top-seeded squad in the competition.
 
The Bulldogs are in the midst of a three-match winning streak and have been victorious in six of their last seven outings. Since dropping a 3-1 loss to ETSU on Oct. 3, Samford has reeled off victories against Western Carolina, 4-1, VMI, 5-0, UNCG, 1-0, Wofford, 2-0, The Citadel, 3-1, and Mercer, 1-0.
 
Samford, which received a first-round bye in the SoCon Tournament, recently rallied for a 3-1 home triumph against The Citadel (7-13, 2-7 SoCon) on Oct. 24.
 
The Bulldogs then continued their positive momentum with a thrilling 1-0 victory over previously-undefeated Mercer on Sunday. Samford's win clinched the SoCon regular-season title.
 
The Bulldogs' championship proved to be its second in four years and their sixth under Head Coach Todd Yelton. Samford also won the regular-season title in 2011 and went on to earn a trip to the 2011 NCAA Tournament.
 
With Samford's SoCon victories against The Citadel and Mercer last week, Yelton reached the 200-win plateau in his career. Yelton, the all-time winningest coach in Samford history, now owns a 200-103-36 record throughout his illustrious 17-year career.
 
Also on Sunday, Yelton's older brother Matthew earned his 300^th career victory as the head women's soccer coach at Lee University.
 
The Bulldogs own a 12-7 overall record this season and have now reached the 12-win plateau in nine of Yelton's 13 years at the helm.
 
The winner of Saturday's showdown between No. 1-seed Samford and No. 9-seed The Citadel will advance to next week's semifinals, which will be held Friday at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina.
 
The Citadel heads into Saturday's contest riding the positive momentum of a two-match winning streak. Since losing at Samford on Oct. 24, the Cadets have posted back-to-back victories against Chattanooga, 8-2, and VMI, 3-0.
 
In Wednesday's SoCon Tournament play-in game, The Citadel traveled to Lexington, Virginia and shut out the homestanding Keydets at Patchin Field. The Cadet's victory proved to be the second SoCon Tournament win in their 14-year history.
 
Samford owns a 6-1-1 lead in its all-time series with The Citadel. The Bulldogs' lone loss in the series occurred last season at home, 3-2. Samford opened its rivalry against The Citadel with a 4-0 triumph on Oct. 14, 2008, and went on to win the first four meetings of the series before playing to a 0-0 draw in 2011. Two seasons ago, Samford earned a 2-0 victory in Charleston, S.C.
 
Last week, the Bulldogs and Cadets squared off at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium on Senior Night.
 
For 45 minutes, it seemed as if Samford's hopes for a SoCon 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.
 
Samford fell behind midway through the first half as the Cadets' Lea Raedle notched a goal in the 23^rd minute. Her score was set up by a perfectly-placed crossing pass from Montana Hinson. The assist was Hinson's second of the season.
 
The Bulldogs, 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.
 
Samford 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. The Bulldogs' equalizing goal came off the foot of sophomore Jermaine Seoposenwe as she rifled home a shot into the top shelf from 20 yards out.
 
Seoposenwe, the Bulldogs' dominant attacking forward from Cape Town, South Africa, played a crucial role in all three of Samford's goals against The Citadel. She scored the team's first goal at 53:45 and then assisted on the Bulldogs' final two scores.
 
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, Colorado, 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 with a key insurance score in the 69^th minute of play.
 
Samford outshot The Citadel, 22-5, and won the corner kick battle, 11-2. The Bulldogs' goalkeeper Anna Maddox tallied the 11^th victory of her promising career and tallied three outstanding saves.
 
The winner of Saturday's contest advances to the semifinal round of the 2014 SoCon Tournament, which will take place at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina on Nov. 7. The title match is scheduled to be held Nov. 9 at Noon (CST) and will be broadcast live on ESPN3.

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