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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University soccer team will continue play in its 2015 Southern Conference schedule Sunday at 2 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs welcome the UNCG Spartans to the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium for a pivotal midseason conference showdown.
 
"It's going to be a really hard game for us," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "UNCG is a really good team and they have already earned a win against NC State this season, and they also played to a draw with Furman. It's going to be a tough challenge for us and we're certainly going to have to play very well to get a win."
 
Samford (10-4-0, 5-0-0 SoCon) heads into the contest boasting the positive momentum of an eight-match SoCon regular-season winning streak.
 
The Bulldogs have not been defeated in conference play since dropping a hard-fought 1-0 decision at Furman on Oct. 17, 2014. Additionally, Samford owns a current six-match winning streak. Since falling at home to Georgia on Sept. 13, the Bulldogs have rattled off consecutive wins against Kennesaw State, 5-2, Furman, 2-0, Wofford, 1-0, The Citadel, 5-0, Mercer, 1-0, and VMI, 7-0, on Friday.
 
Samford's seven-goal victory over the Keydets equaled its previous SoCon-record total of seven goals, which was also achieved in a 7-0 win at The Citadel on Oct. 3, 2010.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
UNCG (5-7-3, 3-1-1 SoCon) enters Sunday's game in the midst of a three-match undefeated streak. Since losing to ETSU on Sept. 27, 3-1, the Spartans then tied Furman on Oct. 2, 0-0, and earned road victories at Wofford, 2-1, and Chattanooga, 3-0.
 
Already this season, UNCG has faced three nationally-ranked opponents in No. 2 Florida State, No. 10 Virginia Tech and No. 23 Kentucky. The Spartans are 0-3 against ranked foes in 2015, but did tally a huge 2-0 road win at NC State on Sept. 10.
 
THE ALL-TIME SERIES
Heading into Sunday's match, UNCG is the only SoCon team to possess a winning record against the Bulldogs. The Spartans lead the all-time series, 4-3-1, but Samford is coming off a 1-0 road victory last season. UNCG has been triumphant in four of the last six meetings between the teams and the Bulldogs are winless, 0-2-1, in the series at home.
 
LAST SEASON'S MATCHUP
Samford handed UNCG its first SoCon loss of the 2014 season last year as the Bulldogs earned a hard-fought 1-0 triumph on the road at the UNCG Soccer Stadium.
 
Samford's Malcanisha Kelley scored the game-winning goal in the 74^th minute of play to secure the victory.
 
The Bulldogs' talented youth was definitely on display last season against the Spartans in their fourth-consecutive road victory. Anna Maddox, Samford's 6-foot goalkeeper, pulled down a career-high 11 saves and earned her second shutout of the 2014 season.
 
UNCG outshot the Bulldogs, 16-11, but Maddox proved to be the difference in the match with a number of game-saving stops. At this point last season, Maddox registered 70 saves and owned a 9-6 record in goal.
 
SAMFORD'S LAST TIME OUT
Samford tied its largest margin of victory in SoCon play Friday as the Bulldogs notched a 7-0 home triumph against the VMI Keydets in a league matchup held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
 
Samford's seven-goal victory equaled its previous SoCon-record total of seven goals, which was also achieved in a 7-0 win at The Citadel on Oct. 3, 2010.
 
Samford extended its regular-season conference winning streak to eight-consecutive matches and earned its sixth straight victory since Sept. 13. During that span, the Bulldogs have outscored the opposition by a total of 22-1.
 
Samford's Kelley paced the Bulldogs' offensive attack Friday and opened the scoring with a quick goal just 4:17 into the match. After tallying the game-winning score, Samford's SoCon-leading goal-scorer also added her 10^th tally of the season in the 16^th minute to give the Bulldogs a lightning-quick 3-0 led.
 
With Kelley's pair of goals scored, Samford's junior native of Childersburg moved just one goal shy of tying both the school's single-season goals record, as well as the Bulldogs' career record.
 
Kelley has already scored 10 goals this season and boasts 25 in her career. Former Bulldog-great Marian Wagner currently holds the top spot in both single-season goals (11) and career goals scored (26).
 
Kaitlyn Orman scored Samford's second goal of the evening in the 14^th minute on a pretty one-timed running shot off a double-assist from Jermaine Seoposenwe and Alissa Hansen. The score proved to be Orman's second of the season, while the assist was Seoposenwe's SoCon-leading 10^th of the year. The helper also marked Hansen's first of the 2015 campaign.
 
In the final 13 minutes of the first half, Samford extended its advantage to 5-0 with goals from Olivia Cole (33') and Kinsey Sessions (41').
 
Samford added two goals in the second half of play Friday and they were both scored by junior forward Sara Smeltzer. Additionally, they were both tallied in a span of just 33 seconds. At exactly 71:43, Smeltzer scored her second goal of the season to give Samford a 6-0 lead, and then at 72:16, only 33 seconds later, the Bulldogs' native of Birmingham fired home her third goal of the year.
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following Sunday's huge SoCon showdown against UNCG, the Samford University soccer team will next be in action Friday at 7 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs play host to Southern Rail rival-Chattanooga in a Senior Night showdown to be held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
 
Fans are encouraged to arrive early as Samford's three seniors, Hallie Georgi, Kinsey Sessions and Alissa Hansen, will all be honored with a special pre-game ceremony Friday.
 
For quick score updates, breaking news and links to all of your favorite articles featuring the Bulldogs, please follow @SamfordSoccer and @Samford_Sports on Twitter.

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