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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The first-place Samford University soccer team extended its shutout streak to 673 minutes Friday as the Bulldogs notched their eighth-consecutive victory in a 3-0 Senior Night triumph against the Chattanooga Mocs held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
 
"Our defensive back three has been outstanding for us," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "We've also gotten great goalkeeping from both of our goalkeepers. I thought the save that Anna (Maddox) made in the first half would have beaten most players. Generally, our team defending has been very impressive for us in conference play this season."
 
Samford (12-4, 7-0 SoCon) has not allowed a goal since the second half of the Bulldogs' 5-2 road win at Kennesaw State on Sept. 20. Since then, Samford has notched consecutive shutout victories against Furman, 2-0, Wofford, 1-0, The Citadel, 5-0, Mercer, 1-0, VMI, 7-0, UNCG, 1-0, and Chattanooga (3-11-2, 1-5-1 SoCon), 3-0.
 
"I didn't think we got off to a great start today, but as the game went on we seemed to grow into it," said Yelton. "That had a lot to do with Chattanooga. They were really organized and hard to break down. It was tough to score on them tonight."
 
The Bulldogs' shutout streak of 673 minutes is the second longest in school history.
 
From Nov. 7, 2008 until Sept. 27, 2009, Samford went a record 730 minutes without allowing a goal. Current Assistant Coach Alyssa Whitehead was the goalkeeper at the time and is still the school's record-holder in every single-season defensive statistical category, as well as the following career listings:  all-time minutes (6,932:26), goals-against average (0.74) and shutouts (34).
 
Samford's duo of talented sophomore goalkeepers Anna Maddox and Katie Peters split the time Friday. Maddox started the contest in goal and earned the victory to improve to 5-1 on the season. Peters played the entire second half of the match and currently boasts a stellar 0.81 goals-against average this season.
 
Prior to Friday's match, Samford's senior class comprised of Hallie Georgi, Alissa Hansen and Kinsey Sessions was honored with special Senior Night presentation. The trio has helped lead the Bulldogs to a remarkable 50-25-4 overall record, a 27-6-4 mark in SoCon play, as well as high-profile victories against Wake Forest, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Memphis and Auburn (twice).
 
"We are blessed to have a special group of seniors this season," Yelton said. "I can't say enough good things about them and I'm a huge believer that things either rise or fall because of leadership, and this group has done a tremendous job of setting a great example tonight and throughout the year."
 
Georgi added to her list of accolades versus Chattanooga by scoring the game-winning goal.
 
In the 24^th minute, junior Taylor Borman sent a high, perfectly-placed corner kick deep into the goalkeeping box. Samford's Malcanisha Kelley skied high for the header, but barely nicked the ball sending it careening off the bottom of the crossbar. Georgi, who had followed Kelley into the zone for a header, quickly gathered the ball and tapped it home for her sixth score of the season.
 
The Bulldogs' Borman also assisted on the team's second goal of the match.
 
At exactly 59:29, Samford's speedy native of Georgetown, Kentucky, stole an errant Chattanooga pass deep in Moc territory and quickly sent it across the field to Grace Packer who rifled home the first goal of her young up-and-coming career. The score gave the Bulldogs some breathing room with a 2-0 advantage and the assist proved to be Borman's career-high ninth of the season.
 
Junior Sara Smeltzer continued her goal-scoring tear Friday as she notched her fourth score in three matches.
 
Smeltzer, Samford's talented native of Birmingham, extended the Bulldogs' lead to 3-0 in 74^th minute of play as she collected a crossing pass from Ella Baggett, slid by a Chattanooga defender and rifled home a shot into the left corner of the net. The goal was Smeltzer's career-high fifth of the season. She also scored a pair of goals against VMI on Oct. 9, and the game-winning score versus UNCG on Sunday.
 
In SoCon play, Samford boasts a perfect 7-0 record and hasn't allowed a single goal this season. The Bulldogs have outscored their league opponents by a total of 20-0.
 
The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Oct. 23 at 6 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs travel to Johnson City, Tennessee, for a huge SoCon showdown at second-place ETSU. Next week's matchup is slated to be held at ETSU's Summer-Taylor Stadium.
 
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Box Score
Samford Stats