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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University soccer team turned in one of its most dominant performances of the 2015 season Sunday, but was only able to find the back of the net once in a nerve-wracking 1-0 Southern Conference victory against the Wofford Terriers in an early-league contest held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
 
"I thought that we had a really emotional game against Furman on Friday night and Wofford played to a draw at Chattanooga, so they came out here and really played hard to try to get three points," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "Amy (Kiah) does an outstanding job with her side and I think she got the better of me today for sure."
 
With the triumph, Samford (7-4, 2-0 SoCon) extended its winning streak against Wofford (1-4-3, 0-1-1 SoCon) to six-consecutive matches and remained undefeated in the all-time series. The Bulldogs improved to 7-0-4 overall against the Terriers and 4-0-1 when playing at home.
 
Samford's game-winning goal was tallied by junior forward Sara Smeltzer on Sunday. The score, which proved to be Smeltzer's first of the season, occurred in the 34^th minute of play and came from 15 yards out.
 
The Bulldogs' Taylor Borman initiated the scoring play as she drove down the left flank and then flicked ahead a perfectly-placed ball to Smeltzer in the middle of the attacking third just beyond the box. Smeltzer controlled the pass and then rifled a shot past Wofford's goalkeeper Mayson Liner into the right corner.
 
"The ball that Taylor played to Sara was brilliant and took great vision on her part," Yelton said. "Sara turned and shot it very well and I'm so glad for her and how much she's progressed. She was a five to 10-minute a game player and now she's getting into the area of playing half a match, so I'm really proud of her. She has great work ethic and the way that she demonstrates her character with the group is phenomenal."
 
Samford controlled the pace of play for a predominant portion of the match and Wofford's scoring chanced proved to be few and far between.
 
The Bulldogs outshot the Terriers, 20-3, on Sunday, including an 8-0 disparity in the first half. Samford also registered nine corner kicks, as compared to zero from Wofford.
 
Borman paced the Bulldogs with four shots attempts, while Malcanisha Kelley, Hallie Georgi and Grace Packer each added three apiece.
 
"I didn't think we were good in front of goal today at all," said Yelton. "I have to give a lot of credit to Wofford's goalkeeper. I thought she made some fantastic saves, but at the end of the day, we need to be much better in front of frame for sure. The positives are that we were able to get another clean sheet today and we finished the weekend with six points in conference play."
 
Wofford's Liner notched a career-high six saves in the loss. Samford's goalkeeper Katie Peters didn't record a save Sunday, but improved to 5-3 on the season with the complete-game shutout victory.
 
"I thought our defense was outstanding today and Olivia Cole played a great game," said Yelton. "I know that she doesn't get half as much praise as she should, but I thought she was very good today. I also thought that Alissa Hansen had one of the best weekends that she's had in her career. She was fantastic on Friday and played really well again today."
 
The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Friday at 3 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs begin a two-match conference road swing versus The Citadel Bulldogs to be held in Charleston, South Carolina.
 
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