Box Score
Updated Samford StatsBIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University soccer team came up short in its third-consecutive Sunday match of the 2014 season as the Kennesaw State Owls notched two goals in the final 10 minutes of action to garner a 4-2 non-conference victory held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
"My biggest concern right now is that we have five losses on the season and four of those happened on Sunday," said Samford head coach
Todd Yelton. "Apparently, we're pretty good on Friday night, but then we struggle on Sunday. Maybe that's because of youth and some things that we can work on, but at the end of the day it falls on me to make sure that our team is ready to play and give a good effort."
Samford (5-5) dropped to 1-4 in Sunday matches this season with three of the losses coming in consecutive weeks. After defeating Georgia State on the road Aug. 31, the Bulldogs have fallen short against No. 3-ranked Virginia, 3-1, Lipscomb, 2-0, and
Kennesaw State (3-6-1), 4-2. Samford also lost on the road to No. 14 South Carolina on Sunday, Aug. 24, 2-0.
With the win, Kennesaw State improved to 2-4 all-time against the Bulldogs. Both of the Owls' victories in the series have occurred in Birmingham at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
"Apparently, Kennesaw would rather play at our place and we would rather play at their place," Yelton said. "Whenever we go there, we tend to win and whenever they come here they tend to win, so maybe we'll just make it an away series for us from now on."
Samford opened the scoring Sunday with a penalty kick goal from sophomore
Jermaine Seoposenwe in the 18
th minute of play. Seoposenwe's goal was set up when she was dragged down in the box by a Kennesaw State defender. The score proved to be her third of the 2014 campaign and gave the Bulldogs an early 1-0 advantage.
Kennesaw State outshot Samford, 17-8, on Sunday and progressively amped up its offensive attack throughout the opening half. The Owls rattled off nine shot attempts in the first 45 minutes of action and deposited a pair of goals in a five-minute span from 35:15 to 40:10.
Brittney Reed evened the score at 1-1 with a goal in the 36
th minute of play, while Marit Sandtroeen gave Kennesaw State a 2-1 advantage with her second goal of the season in the 41
st minute.
"I think that Kennesaw wanted it a bit more than we did today," Yelton said. "I thought they played really hard out there. I thought that we played hard in spurts, but not nearly enough. I have to give full credit to Kennesaw. They were able to find the back of the net and they made it hard on us with their style of play. They are always difficult to play against and they deservedly won."
With less than three minutes remaining in the opening stanza, Samford's
Sara Smeltzer equalized the match at 2-2 with a goal set up brilliantly by both
Anna Allen and
Malcanisha Kelley.
On the scoring play, Allen found Kelley neatly on the right sideline as she was darting towards midfield. Kelley quickly took two touches on the ball and then sent a pinpoint-precise crossing pass up ahead to Smeltzer. Smeltzer, who was completing her fun directly down the middle of the field, ran onto the pass exactly five yards in front of the goal and slammed home the score.
Smeltzer's goal was her first of the 2014 season and tied the match at 2-2 heading into halftime.
"I didn't think we played our best soccer in the first half, but I certainly felt we'd found a way," said Yelton. "Sara came in late there and gave us a great goal and finished it quite well. That brought us level and I really thought we had a good chance to get a couple more down the stretch. When you don't, it gives your opponent a quality shot to counter and that's what Kennesaw did."
In Sunday's second half, both teams stepped up defensively and held each other scoreless until the 81
st minute of action when Kennesaw State's Maggie Gaughan tallied the game-winning goal off a crossing pass from Ashtah Das. The goal was Gaughan's first of two on the night and her fourth of the season.
Gaughan also gave the Owls their decisive 4-2 score with 25 seconds remaining when she rifled home an empty-netter from the midfield line. Kennesaw State's native of Marietta, Ga., leads the team with five goals scored this season. The rest of the team has combined to score four goals total in 2014.
The Owls entered Sunday's match having scored five goals in nine matches this year.
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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Box Score
Updated Samford Stats
