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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University soccer team registered its best scoring performance of the 2016 campaign Sunday, but the No. 24-ranked Auburn Tigers were able to find the back of the net one more time as the Bulldogs dropped an exciting 4-3 home decision held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
 
"Auburn is a very good side," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "I'm disappointed that we didn't get something out of this game. I felt like we definitely deserved a result out of it, but we certainly gave up a couple of bad goals, and when you do that, it makes it tough to win a game against a nationally-ranked opponent."
 
Samford (1-2-1) scored first-half goals from seniors Taylor Borman and Jermaine Seoposenwe, but found itself trailing Auburn (3-1), 3-2, at the intermission. The Tigers' first-half strikes were tallied by Kristen Dodson, Ellie Leek and Casie Ramsier. All three goals were their first of the season.
 
Sunday's intermission proved to be a bit longer than the usual 15 minutes allotted for each match. With constant lightning strikes and intermittent rain in the area, halftime last two hours and 15 minutes.
 
Samford and Auburn were even in shots in the first period, 9-9, and the Bulldogs seemed to run the pace of play in the second half with a predominant portion of the action being held on the Tigers' end of the field.
 
Less than seven minutes into the final period, Auburn's Dodson scored her second goal of the match on a sizzling right-footed shot into the bottom left corner of the goal. Dodson's tally occurred after a Samford deflection near the top of the box and was fired in from 30 yards out.
 
"We were down 3-1 early in the match and our players could have put it in the tank, but they didn't," Yelton said. "Jermaine scored a brilliant goal there to get us back to 3-2 and then I felt like we had them back on their heels, but we gave up another really bad goal there in the second half. Even when we were down 4-2, we didn't give up and really tried to get things to 4-3 and then nearly got it level at 4-4."
 
Dodson's score gave the Tigers a 4-2 advantage in the match.
 
Not to be deterred, less than a minute later, Samford answered with a goal of its own as the Bulldogs' Kelley notched her school-record 30^th score of her career. The goal occurred at exactly 52:37 in the match and was slammed home by Kelley after Taylor Borman sent a high, deep ball into the goalkeeper's box.
 
Auburn's goalkeeper Sarah Le Beau mistimed her jump on the play and Kelley was able to take advantage as the ball dribbled in front of net.
 
"I thought we really had a lot of players today that we could tip our hat to," Yelton said. "Certainly, Anna Allen had a fantastic night. Mac (Malcanisha) also came in for us and was a real difference-maker. I thought the ball that she fed in to Jermaine was pretty special. Then later, Mac also scored a goal to make 4-3 there in the second half."
 
With Samford in striking distance at 4-3, the Bulldogs' offensive attack kept rattling off shot after shot at the Tigers' net, but Auburn's grisly defenders were able to hold tight and keep the advantage.
 
Samford led the Tigers in shots, 18-16, while shots on goal were knotted at 9-9. The Bulldogs' Kelley and Taylor Borman paced the offensive attack with five and three shot attempts, respectively, while Auburn's Leek led the way for her squad with four.
 
"When you score three goals against a team like Auburn, you're thinking that's going to be enough to win the match, but today it wasn't," said Yelton. "(Head Coach) Karen (Hoppa) always does such a great job with that Auburn team. Year-in and year-out, they are always one of the top teams in the nation and today was definitely not a typical Auburn-Samford game. They are usually pretty low-scoring affairs and played very tightly to the vest. This one today was definitely a little bit different."
 
Samford's junior goalkeeper Katie Peters finished with five saves, including a huge two-on-one stop early in the first half. Auburn's Le Beau tallied six saves in the contest.
 
"At the end of the day, I'm not disappointed in our team's effort," Yelton said. "I am possibly a bit disappointed with some of the decisions we made, but from an effort standpoint, we were quite good."
 
With Sunday's victory, Auburn extended its winning streak on the season to three. After falling at home to No. 14-ranked Clemson, 2-0, the Tigers have now posted consecutive wins against South Alabama, 1-0, Cal State Fullerton, 2-0, and Samford, 4-3.
 
The Bulldogs suffered their second loss in a row Sunday. On Friday, Samford came up short in an upset bid on the road at Georgia, 3-1.
 
"I think our players gave us a great effort tonight," Yelton said. "We just have some things we need to work on before we head to Houston next week for two more really hard matches."
 
The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Friday at 7 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs travel to Houston, Texas, for a key contest against the Rice Owls to be held at the Rice Track/Soccer Stadium.
 
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Box Score
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