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CULLOWHEE, N.C. -- In a matchup eerily similar to a meeting exactly two weeks ago, the Samford University soccer team will face off against the feisty Mercer Bears with a Southern Conference title on the line Sunday at noon (CST) as the teams vie for the SoCon Tournament championship being held at the Catamount Athletic Complex live on ESPN3.
 
On Oct. 26, the teams squared off in Birmingham, Ala., with the SoCon regular-season title at stake. Samford (14-7) used an early goal from senior Amanda Abbott and a dominant defensive performance from its back line to earn a 1-0 home victory and claim the conference championship.
 
Mercer (13-5-2) entered the tournament as the third seed and advanced to Sunday's title match with back-to-back wins against Western Carolina, 2-1, and Furman, 3-2.
 
In Friday's SoCon semifinal contest versus Furman, Mercer benefitted from an own goal in the 83rd minute to edge the No. 2-seeded Paladins. The Bears will be making their first SoCon title-match appearance in school history. Samford will be playing in its third SoCon Tournament title match Sunday.
 
With the score tied at 2-2 in the waning minutes of regulation, Mercer's Tess Patton lofted a cross from the right wing into the box. Furman's Hannah Stanifer tried to head the ball away, but it ricocheted off teammate Claire Sullivan's chest and into the lower left corner of the goal for the go-ahead score.
 
Mercer seemed to seize momentum midway through the second half on a Kristen Hagaman goal in the 65th minute, but Furman quickly answered with a Carlie Couch strike just 3:01 later to knot the game at 2-2.
 
The plays were strikingly similar. On Mercer's goal, Washida Blackman took a shot in the box that Hull came out to snuff, but the rebound went right to the feet of Hagaman, who tapped it into the open net as Mercer reclaimed its one-goal advantage. The goal was Hagaman's first of the season.
 
Couch, a first-team All-SoCon selection for the Paladins, pulled the Paladins level just moments later, running on to a saved Stephanie DeVita shot to make it 2-2. Couch's goal was her ninth.
 
Mercer held a 1-0 lead for most of the first half, as Maddie Clark put the Bears on the board in just the sixth minute of action, collecting a ball 40 yards out and weaving through traffic to pound home her sixth goal of the season to stake the Bears to the 1-0 lead.
 
Furman drew even in the 58th minute when DeVita – the SoCon Player of the Year for the second time in her career – found Molly Dwyer with a precision pass around a Mercer defender to hit Dwyer in stride. Dwyer slotted her shot into the lower left corner for her fifth goal of the year to put Furman on the board.
 
In Samford's semifinal victory over ETSU, the Bulldogs scored two goals in 23 minutes Friday to defeat the fourth-seeded Buccaneers. With the triumph, Samford extended its winning streak to five-consecutive matches and proved to be triumphant in eight of its last nine contests. Since Oct. 3, the Bulldogs have outscored the opposition by a total of 24-4.
 
Both of Samford's goals Friday were scored by seniors and assisted by sophomore speedster Jermaine Seoposenwe.
 
The Bulldogs trailed for a majority of the match after ETSU's Hannah Short scored her nation-leading 27^th goal of the season in the seventh minute. Short's tally was assisted by Jasmin Dutton and occurred on a set play from the left side of the box.
 
After trailing 1-0 at the half, Samford's Abbott quickly shifted the momentum of the match with a brilliant equalizing goal in the 62^nd minute. Abbott, the Bulldogs' talented senior from Marietta, Ga., has really caught fire late in the season and registered four of her team-leading 10 goals in the last five matches.
 
Abbott's score Friday occurred at exactly 61:32 and evened the match at 1-1. Her goal was set up by Seoposenwe to the left side of the box where she rifled a shot home from 10 yards out.
 
With her key momentum-shifting goal, Abbott moved into a four-way tie for third place on Samford's all-time scoring list with 23.
 
The Bulldogs' game-winning goal occurred in thrilling fashion as senior Katie Danehy skied through the air with just under six minutes remaining in the match to head home a corner kick from Seoposenwe. Danehy's game-winning goal sent the Samford squad into a frenzy as the Bulldogs garnered their first lead of the match with exactly 5:59 left to play.
 
The score proved to be Danehy's fourth of the season and her first game-winning tally of the 2014 campaign.
 
With Seoposenwe's two assists Friday, Samford's dynamic sophomore native of Cape Town, South Africa, set the school record for single-season assists with 13. Seoposenwe, in just her first year as a Bulldog, has already registered 29 points, which also ranks first in the school's single-season record book.
 
Samford ended up outshooting ETSU, 14-13, and received five outstanding saves from true freshman goalkeeper Anna Maddox. The Bulldogs' 6-foot native of Warner Robins, Georgia, has started every match for Samford this season and owns a stellar 14-7 overall record.
 
Samford owns a 7-1-2 all-time record against Mercer. This season marks the Bears' first as a member of the SoCon. In previous years, the Bears competed as a part of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
 
The winner of Sunday's SoCon Tournament title match will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Samford has qualified for the NCAA Championship three times, with its latest trip occurring in 2011. The Bulldogs also earned NCAA Tournament bids in both 2007 and 2005, and advanced to the second round of the event in 2005.
 
The NCAA Selection Show will be held Monday at 3:30 p.m. (CST) and aired live on NCAA.com.
 
2014 SoCon Soccer Championship
 
Oct. 29 (Wednesday)
First round (at higher seeds)
Match 1:  No. 9 The Citadel 3, No. 8 VMI 0
Match 2:  No. 7 Wofford 5, No. 10 Chattanooga 0
 
Nov. 1 (Saturday)
Quarterfinal round (at higher seeds)
Match 3:  No. 1 Samford 6, No. 9 The Citadel 0
 
Nov. 2 (Sunday)
Quarterfinal round (at higher seeds)
Match 4:  No. 4 ETSU 3, No. 5 UNCG 2 (OT)
Match 5:  No. 2 Furman 3, No. 7 Wofford 2
Match 6:  No. 3 Mercer 2, No. 6 Western Carolina 1
 
Nov. 7 (Friday)
Semifinals (Catamount Athletic Complex; Cullowhee, N.C.)
Match 7:  No. 1 Samford 2, No. 4 ETSU 1
Match 8:  No. 3 Mercer 3, No. 2 Furman 2
 
Nov. 9 (Sunday)
Final (Catamount Athletic Complex; Cullowhee, N.C.)
Match 9:  No. 1 Samford vs. No. 3 Mercer, Noon (ESPN3)

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