Live StatsBIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University soccer team will play at home for the first time in exactly two weeks Sunday as the Bulldogs welcome the Kennesaw State Owls to the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium for their final non-conference contest of the regular season slated to begin at 2 p.m. (CDT).
Samford (5-4) heads into the contest riding the positive momentum of a 3-1 road victory at Austin Peay on Friday. In the win, the Bulldogs exploded for three goals in 13 minutes in a battle of former Ohio Valley Conference opponents held at Morgan Brothers Field.
Samford's
Amanda Abbott highlighted the triumph as she scored two of the Bulldogs' three goals in a span of just two minutes and six seconds. After scoring the game-winning goal at exactly 29:08 in the first half, Samford's speedy native of Marietta, Ga., notched her third score of the 2014 campaign just over two minutes later at the 31:14 mark to give the Bulldogs their decisive 3-1 advantage.
Samford dictated a majority of Friday's contest and handily outshot Austin Peay by a final count of 19-9.
With their victory, the Bulldogs remained undefeated against the Lady Govs and improved their all-time record in the series to 6-0-1.
Austin Peay struck first Friday and garnered a quick 1-0 advantage in the match behind a fourth-minute goal from Gina Fabbro. On the score, Fabbro headed a pass from Claire Pultz into the lower left corner of the net from 15 yards out.
Despite falling behind early, Samford rebounded nicely in the 19
th minute as sophomore
Taylor Borman registered her second goal of the season with an equalizing goal to even the score at 1-1. On Borman's score, she gathered a perfectly-placed crossing pass from junior
Hallie Georgi and found the back of the net.
Defensively, Samford only allowed four shots on goal as true freshman
Anna Maddox finished the contest with four key saves.
Kennesaw State (2-6-1) enters Sunday's contest with aspirations of bouncing back from a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to UT Martin on Friday.
Despite dominating most of the match against UT Martin, the Owls dropped a tough 1-0 decision to the Skyhawks at home in Fifth Third Bank Stadium.
Kennesaw State opened Friday's contest with an aggressive mindset, winning three corners in the first six minutes of the contest. The pressure from the home team continued throughout the first half as the Owls created chance after chance against the Skyhawk backline.
Late in the first half, Kennesaw State junior Hannah Churchill had one of the best chances for the Owls, firing a shot from beyond the 18-yard box that was denied by the crossbar.
Out of intermission, KSU pushed forward for the game-winner as sophomore Cassidy Kemp got behind the UTM defense, but the shot tailed just wide. Minutes later, Kemp again came close to a goal as a shot from the top of the box sailed just over the cross bar.
Samford will be squaring off against Kennesaw State for just the sixth time in school history Sunday. The Bulldogs currently own a 4-1 all-time record in the series and are coming off a 3-0 road triumph over the Owls last season.
In last year's matchup, Samford used a pair of goals from Abbott and a second-half score from senior midfielder
Trine Taule to register the 3-0 victory. Abbott's goals were tallied in the 41
st and 52
nd minutes, while Taule's strike was added in the 73
rd.
In the most recent meeting between the teams held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium on Sept. 14, 2002, Kennesaw State handed the Bulldogs a 2-1 loss despite being outshot 25-6. Samford's setback proved to be its first home defeat in over a year.
Following Sunday's meeting with Kennesaw State, the Samford University soccer team will next be in action Sept. 28 at 2 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs begin play in their 2014 Southern Conference schedule on the road against the Chattanooga Mocs. The Southern Rail Rivalry contest will be held at Chattanooga's Finlay Stadium.
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