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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- With just over five minutes remaining in Sunday's non-conference showdown with the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, Samford's Olivia Cole lifted a free kick high into the air from 45 yards out. The ball bounced near the top of the goalkeeper's box and then jumped neatly into the top right corner of the net to give the Bulldogs their decisive 2-1 lead.
 
"I thought we really battled hard today," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "I have to give a lot of credit to Coastal Carolina. I thought they were as organized of any group we've played all year. They played hard and they were really tough to break down. They were also really good on the counter, so it was a very tough match for us, but our team really gave us a great effort."
 
The game-winning goal at exactly 84:11 proved to be Cole's first of the 2015 campaign and the second of her career. She also tallied a key score against Southern Conference-foe Chattanooga during her freshman season.
 
"Olivia did the right thing on the free kick and it just kind of scooted through there," Yelton said. "I was extremely happy for her. I think Olivia has been fantastic for us this season. In my mind, she hasn't had a bad match. She played all 90 minutes down at Auburn on Friday and then today she played all 90 again in the heat, so she's been brilliant."
 
With the victory, Samford (4-2) extended its home winning streak to three-consecutive matches and moved to 4-1 when playing at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium this season.
 
The Bulldogs will face two more tough home tests this week as they play host to Duke on Friday and Georgia on Sunday.
 
"This was a good tough win for us today, but we have two more coming up in a few days as well," said Yelton. "When people look at our schedule, there's not an easy game on there. We're just going to keep working, putting in the effort and striving to get better each and every week."
 
Samford outshot Coastal Carolina (3-3), 22-4, on Sunday, but it was the Chanticleers that found the back of the net first.
 
Just minutes into the contest, Kayla Christian blasted a crossing pass from the left side of the field that was deflected and caromed 15 yards out to her Coastal Carolina teammate Daniella Famili. Famili, who proved to be in the right place at the right time, quickly one-timed a shot from 12 yards out and found the right corner of the net.
 
The goal was Famili's first of the season and gave the Chanticleers an early 1-0 lead at exactly 4:09 in the match. Christian, who notched a hat trick in Coastal Carolina's 3-1 victory at UAB on Friday, was credited with the assist.
 
Not to be outdone, Samford abruptly answered with a goal of its own just 4:44 later.
 
The Bulldogs' scoring play was initiated by junior Jermaine Seoposenwe as she gathered an errant Chanticleer pass 10 yards on the far side of midfield and streaked pass a trio of defenders. Once through the midfield, Seoposenwe found Taylor Borman heading towards goal and passed the ball ahead to her fellow junior.
 
Borman gathered the pass, adeptly split a pair of Coastal Carolina defenders and beat goalkeeper Becca Austin to the left side of the goal. Borman's equalizer proved to be her first goal of the season and was assisted by Seoposenwe.
 
Seoposenwe's assist brought her to eight helpers on the season. Samford's fleet-footed junior from Cape Town, South Africa, entered the weekend ranked first in the nation in assists with seven.
 
"Taylor and Jermaine were able to get a quick combination and we were able to score right back on them on the counter," said Yelton. "Taylor finished it well and that was good for us because we were able to even it right back."
 
Nine of Samford's 22 shot attempts proved to be on goal. The Bulldogs dictated the pace of play throughout the match as Coastal Carolina seemed intent on flooding the defensive half of the field and waiting for counters.
 
All four of the Chanticleers' shot attempts were taken by varying players. Three of them occurred in the opening half.
 
"I thought they were perfectly happy to let us possess the ball," Yelton said. "In my opinion, they did a really good job of keeping us in the spaces that they wanted us to be in. Possession is all nice and looks good, but at the end of the day, the most important thing is how many you could put past the goalkeeper. They made it hard on us."
 
Samford goalkeeper Katie Peters improved to 4-1 on the season and tallied a pair of really good saves Sunday. The Bulldogs' sophomore native of Greenfield, Indiana, owns a solid 1.09 goals-against average this season.
 
"We had to make a couple of really nice defensive plays in the game to keep them off the board," Yelton said. "It was a very hard-fought match."
 
The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Friday at 7 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs square off against the Duke Blue Devils in a highly-anticipated matchup to be held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
 
"We were a little banged up today, but we had some players come off the bench and were key contributors for us," Yelton said. "I thought that Courtney Hendrickson played her best match of the season."
 
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Box Score
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