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CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- The Samford University soccer team opened its 2014 Southern Conference schedule in impressive fashion Sunday as the Bulldogs used a pair of goals from sophomore Malcanisha Kelley en route to a decisive 3-0 road victory against the Chattanooga Mocs held at Finlay Stadium.
 
"It's always good to start conference play with a win, especially when you're playing on the road," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "We challenged the team in practice all week and I thought they did a great job of responding. With the artificial turf, Chattanooga is a tough place to play and we did a good job of keeping our focus and getting the win."
 
With the victory, Samford (6-5, 1-0 SoCon) extended its winning streak against Chattanooga (1-8-1, 0-1 SoCon) to seven-consecutive matches. The Bulldogs also continued their stellar play on the road this season and improved to 5-2 when competing away from the friendly confines of the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
 
Kelley, the Bulldogs' athletic All-SoCon performer from Childersburg, Ala., scored a pair of goals in Sunday's win. Just 4:12 into the match, she tallied Samford's game-winning score on a three-yard header off a pass from true freshman Virginia McNeill.
 
In just her second season as a Bulldog, Kelley has already scored 13 career goals and is only one score shy of reaching the top 10 in Samford's all-time goals-scoring list. The school's leading goal-scorer in history is Marian Wagner, who closed out her prestigious four-year career with 26 goals in 2005.

Kelley's second goal of the afternoon, her fifth in 2014, was added in the 63^rd minute of play to extend Samford's decisive lead to 3-0. On the score, Kelley received a pretty forwarding pass from fellow-sophomore Jermaine Seoposenwe and then beat Chattanooga's goalkeeper Hannah Dunn, one-v-one, to the right side.
 
"Mac (Malcanisha) did a great job today," Yelton said. "She's been one of our best goal-scorers all year long and today she was fed two really good passes from Virginia and Jermaine. Once she gets in a position to score goals, she typically does an outstanding job of finding the back of the net."
 
Samford outshot Chattanooga, 29-6, on Sunday and won the corner-kick battle, 7-1. Dunn finished the contest with 15 saves for the Mocs.
 
The Bulldogs' true freshman goalkeeper Anna Maddox finished with three key saves of her own against Chattanooga and registered the second shutout of her young career. Maddox, Samford's talented 6-foot native of Warner Robins, Ga., has pulled down 48 saves this season and owns a solid goals-against average of 1.64 in her freshman campaign.
 
"So far this season, we've given up more goals than we would have liked, so to get a shutout today will hopefully be a big confidence-booster for us," said Yelton. "I also think it was important for Anna to have a good game and it should also give her some confidence as we continue in our conference season."
 
Samford's second goal Sunday was scored by senior midfielder Ariane Lukens in the 49^th minute of action. Just 3:33 into the second half, Lukens gathered a brilliant crossing pass into the box from sophomore Taylor Borman and knocked home her second goal of the season.
 
Borman's assist proved to be her team-leading fourth of the 2014 campaign.
 
The Bulldogs own an 8-1 advantage in its all-time series against Chattanooga. Samford is in the midst of a seven-match winning streak over the Mocs, dating back to Sept. 21, 1999. Since then, the Bulldogs have outscored Chattanooga, 25-5, in the last seven meetings.
 
The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Friday at 7 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs welcome new league member ETSU to the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium for a momentous conference showdown.
 
"ETSU is off to a great start this season and will be a really big challenge for us," Yelton said. "They are very well-coached and it's a team that we haven't played against in a long time, so it will definitely bring about some new challenges. I'm expecting it to be a very tough, well-played match on Friday."
 
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Box Score
Updated Samford Stats