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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The three-time Southern Conference regular-season champion Samford University soccer team scored the game-winning goal 35 seconds into Saturday's quarterfinal round match against the VMI Keydets as the Bulldogs breezed to a 5-0 victory and advanced to next week's semifinal round of the SoCon Tournament.
 
"When Jermaine (Seoposenwe) scored the goal right off the bat, we felt like it was going to be a good night," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "I honestly don't know if she could hit that shot again if we gave her 10 chances, but it was definitely nice to come out and get that early lead. Then, her second goal was huge as well, especially because of how VMI plays and how much pressure they put on you."
 
With the victory, Samford (13-3-2) extended its winning streak to eight consecutive matches and moved on to face fourth-seeded Furman in Friday's final four of the SoCon Tournament, which will be hosted next week by ETSU at Summers-Taylor Stadium in Johnson City, Tennessee.
 
Earlier on Saturday, Furman earned a hard-fought 1-0 overtime victory at home against UNCG.
 
"I think we're playing our best soccer right now," Yelton said. "I'm sure there are a lot of teams that can say that at this point in time, but now we're going up against a very good Furman team and obviously they beat us earlier in the year, so that's going to be a big challenge for us. It's always tight whenever we play them, so we'll rest a bit and get back at it tomorrow in preparation for the semifinals."
 
Samford's opening goal of the match was scored just 35 seconds into the contest as senior Jermaine Seoposenwe lofted a perfectly-placed shot just over the goalkeeper from 40 yards out. Seoposenwe's tally proved to be her first of two goals on the night as she increased her Samford-record, single-season total to 16.
 
"I think Jermaine's always had the ability to score a lot of goals," said Yelton. "The one thing about us this year is that this is definitely the most dynamic group of players that we've had going forward, so the opportunities to score present themselves much more than they have in the past. Jermaine is an outstanding player, but she'd be the first to tell you that she'd give up all of her goals for a chance to go to the NCAA Tournament."
 
Seoposenwe's second goal occurred at exactly 9:01 in the first half and came off a penalty kick. The penalty-kick goal proved to be Seoposenwe's fifth of the season as the Bulldogs' dynamic native of Cape Town, South Africa, owns a perfect 5-for-5 mark from the dot.
 
Midway through the first half, senior forward Sara Smeltzer scored her fifth goal of the season in the 31^st minute of action. On the score, Smeltzer gathered a crossing pass from Abriella Argueta, stopped in her tracks, allowed the defender to fly by, then turned and rifled home the shot from five yards out.
 
Argueta, who later scored a goal for the Bulldogs in the second half, finished the contest with three points on the evening. Samford's talented junior from Clarksville, Tennessee, currently boasts six assists and three goals on the season.
 
The Bulldogs entered the intermission with a 3-0 advantage over VMI (8-12). At the half, Samford held a 13-3 advantage in shot attempts, as well as a 6-0 lead in corner kick attempts.
 
"I don't think you can ever question the mentality of these VMI players," Yelton said. "They always play tough and they give so much effort. Tonight, they made us earn everything that we were able to get and they are much improved from where they were two years ago."
 
Taylor Borman, the Bulldogs' senior forward, closed out her final home match in impressive fashion by scoring a goal in the 20^th minute of the second half. On the score, her sixth of the season, she collected a through-pass from Smeltzer and quickly tapped a shot past VMI's incoming goalkeeper Ceci Keppeler, who was charging hard to make the stop.
 
Borman's goal proved to be the 15^th of her career.
 
Samford closed out Saturday's match with 30 shot attempts, 18 of which proved to be on goal. VMI's Keppeler tallied 12 saves in the game, but also allowed five goals. The Keydets finished the match with seven shot attempts.
 
The Bulldogs' goalkeepers' Anna Maddox and Katie Peters both played a half in the contest. Maddox started the match and improved her record to 12-0 on the season, while earned one save. Peters entered the contest in the second half and tallied three key stops in the victory.
 
With Samford's win against the Keydets on Saturday, the Bulldogs improved to 5-0 all-time against VMI. Samford has not allowed a goal in the series and has outscored the Keydets by a total of 25-0. The Bulldogs also improved to 9-5-4 record in SoCon Tournament play.
 
"I thought that Lindsay (Copeland) had her best match of the year," Yelton said. "It was great to see a lot of our younger players get a lot of quality minutes and that's always a huge thing this time of year. I also thought that Aby (Abriella Argueta) did a fantastic job while she was in the match as well."
 
The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Friday at 4 p.m. (CDT) as the top-seeded Bulldogs square off against the fourth-seeded Furman Paladins in the semifinal round of the SoCon Tournament for a trip to Sunday's championship match of the 10-team competition.
 
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Box Score
Samford Stats
SoCon Tournament Bracket (Updated)