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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University soccer team will compete in its first Southern Conference home match of the season Friday as the Bulldogs welcome the Mercer Bears to the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium for a marquee early-season league showdown slated to begin at 7 p.m. (CDT). Admission is FREE.
 
Samford (5-3-2, 1-1 SoCon) heads into the matchup with extra motivation after dropping a 3-2 road decision at first-place Furman on Sunday. In the loss, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 2-1 advantage in the second half, but allowed two late goals in the defeat. The Paladins' Treva Aycock, who earned SoCon Player of the Week honors, tallied her first career hat trick in the contest.
 
Adding to Samford's motivation Friday is the fact that Mercer (3-6-1, 1-1 SoCon) has knocked the Bulldogs out of each of the last two SoCon Tournaments.
 
In 2014, the Bears outlasted Samford in the championship match of the SoCon Tournament, 2-1, before advancing past the Bulldogs in last season's semifinal round via a penalty-kick shootout, 4-3. Samford and Mercer finished the second overtime period last season tied at 1-1 before heading to penalty kicks.
 
The Bulldogs own a 4-1 record at home this year with wins against Baylor, Alabama, Troy and Kennesaw State. Samford's lone loss held in Birmingham this season occurred at the hands of No. 24-ranked Auburn, 4-3, on Aug. 28.
 
THE LAST TIME OUT - - SAMFORD FALLS ON THE ROAD AT FURMAN, 3-2
With just under four minutes to play in Sunday's SoCon showdown being held on Seagraves Field at Stone Stadium, Furman's Aycock broke a 2-2 tie with her third goal of the match as the Paladins came from behind to tally a 3-2 home victory against the Samford Bulldogs.
 
With her game-winning goal at exactly 3:58 left in the match, Aycock registered lifted Furman to the victory.
 

Samford received goals from true freshman Erin Bonner and senior Malcanisha Kelley on Sunday, but couldn't find a defensive answer for the Paladins' Aycock. The freshman forward from Marietta, Georgia, scored the second, third and fourth goals of her young collegiate career in the 46^th, 56^th and 87^th minutes, respectively.
 
Furman outshot Samford, 11-7, in the contest, while three of the Bulldogs' attempts proved to be on-goal. Samford also switched goalkeepers midway through the second half. Junior Anna Maddox started the game in goal and played the opening 58:26 of the match before fellow junior Katie Peters played the final 31:34 of the outing.
 
Furman's win Sunday proved to be its fourth of the series. Samford owns a 6-4-1 all-time record against the Paladins.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Mercer heads into Friday's game with a bit of positive momentum after winning at home against ETSU on Sunday, 3-2. The Bears' victory snapped a three-match winless streak dating back to Sept. 4, when they rallied for a 4-0 road triumph over Presbyterian.
 
Since then, Mercer played to a 0-0 home draw with Troy and tough back-to-back losses to No. 3-ranked Florida State, 2-0, and Western Carolina, 1-0.
 
The Bears opened the 2016 campaign with a lopsided 6-0 home victory against Alabama A&M, but then suffered four straight losses to Oklahoma State, 3-0, Kennesaw State, 4-2, Tennessee Tech, 3-0, and Charlotte, 2-1.
 
Mercer's Maddie Clark is tied for the conference lead in goals this season with seven. The Bears' senior forward has also added an assist this year for a team-high point total of 15.
 
MERCER'S LAST TIME OUT - - BEARS TOPPLE BUCS IN KEY HOME MATCH
The Bears' Clark netted a hat trick to lead the Mercer to a 3-2 victory over ETSU on Sunday. She set a career high with her three goals and is now tied for third all-time on Mercer's career game-winning goals leaderboard. In goal, Cristina Mursuli made a career-high tying eight saves to anchor the Mercer defense.
 
The Bears struck first when Clark knocked the ball in the net off a rebounded shot from Hayley Moore. Mercer took its 1-0 lead in the 41st minute and carried the advantage into halftime.
 
ETSU came out strong in the second half and knotted the score, 1-1, in the 47th minute when Eleonora Goldoni tipped the ball in the net, also off a rebounded shot. The Bucs went up 2-1 in the 70th minute when Molly Collinson sailed the ball to the top left of the net from 25 yards out on the right side of the box.
 
Clark tied the game, 2-2, in the 76th minute after beating a pair of ETSU defenders and taking a shot from 15 yards out to the center of the net. The Peachtree Corners, Georgia, native struck again in the 82nd minute after corralling a rebounded shot just to the left of the net and tapping it in the goal to give the Bears a 3-2 advantage. ETSU was unable to answer in the final minutes of the match.
 
SAMFORD vs. MERCER - - THE ALL-TIME SERIES
The Bulldogs own an 8-2-3 all-time record against Mercer, but have been knocked out by the Bears in each of the last two SoCon Tournaments. Since Mercer joined the SoCon in 2014, Samford has won 1-0 in the regular season, but the Bears have advanced in the SoCon Tournament. In 2014, Mercer defeated Samford, 2-1, in the SoCon Championship match. Last season, the Bears and the Bulldogs tied, 1-1, in the SoCon semifinal, but Mercer advanced to the championship match on penalty kicks.
 
DATE                          RESULT                                                      LOCATION
Oct. 23, 1997              Mercer def. Samford, 5-2                               Macon, Ga.
Oct. 18, 1998              Samford def. Mercer, 2-1 (OT)                      Birmingham, Ala.
Sept. 15, 1999            Samford def. Mercer, 1-0                               Birmingham, Ala.
Sept. 16, 2000            Samford def. Mercer, 2-1                               Macon, Ga.
Oct. 4, 2001                Samford def. Mercer, 4-1                               Birmingham, Ala.
Sept. 12, 2002            Samford def. Mercer, 2-1 (2OT)                     Macon, Ga.
Sept. 20, 2003            Samford tied Mercer, 0-0                                Birmingham, Ala.
Sept. 5, 2008              Samford def. Mercer, 1-0                               Jacksonville, Ala.
Aug. 27, 2010             Samford tied Mercer, 2-2                                Birmingham, Ala.
Oct. 26, 2014              Samford def. Mercer, 1-0                               Birmingham, Ala.
Nov. 9, 2014               Mercer def. Samford, 2-1                               Cullowhee, N.C.
Oct. 4, 2015                Samford def. Mercer, 1-0                               Macon, Ga.
Nov. 6, 2015               Samford tied Mercer, 1-1                                Greenville, S.C.
 
IN THE LAST MATCHUP BETWEEN THE TEAMS
Samford's record-setting 2015 campaign came to a difficult end as the top-seeded Bulldogs were defeated in a penalty kick shootout by the Mercer Bears, 4-3, in the semifinal round of the SoCon Tournament held on the campus of Furman University.  
 
Samford and Mercer battled to a hard-fought 1-1 draw throughout 90 minutes of regulation and two overtime periods, before heading to the penalty kick shootout.
 
The Bears' Clark, Sarah Daane, Corinne Wooten and Haleigh Svede all connected in the shootout period, with their only miss coming in the third round by leading scorer Katelyn Dimopoulos.
 

Samford missed its first attempt in PKs, but then Borman, Emily Jones and Kaitlyn Orman all scored on consecutive shots to even the score at 3-3, heading into the final round.
 
Mercer's Svede tallied a goal in the fifth round, putting the pressure on the Bulldogs' Seoposenwe to even the count. On her attempt, Jermaine Seoposenwe fired a shot far to the left side, but it caromed off the post and failed to cross the line.
 
Officially, the match was considered a draw with Mercer advancing in the SoCon Tournament via penalty kicks, 4-3.
 
SELF-SCOUTING THE 2016 BULLDOGS
Seoposenwe leads Samford with six goals and 16 points this season, while Kelley has notched a team-leading five assists and added four goals to total 13 points. Seoposenwe leads the conference and ranks 29th nationally in points per game (1.78), while ranking second in the league in total points.
 
Additionally, Kelley leads the SoCon and ranks 30th nationally in total assists. Borman has tallied four goals and three assists for a total of 11 points thus far.
 
Juniors Maddox and Peters have split time in goal this season, as Maddox has played 388 minutes, made 13 saves and allowed three goals for a .812 save percentage and 0.69 goals-against average. Peters has recorded 566 minutes in goal, made 22 saves and allowed 11 goals for a .667 save percentage and 1.75 goals-against average.
 
As a team, Samford has outscored opponents, 21-14, this season and of the Bulldogs' 21 goals, only one has been unassisted. Samford's defense has also tallied five shutouts this season.
 
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?
Following Friday's key home test against Mercer, the Samford University soccer team's two-match SoCon homestand will continue Sunday at 2 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs play host to The Citadel in another league matchup to be held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
 
For quick score updates, breaking news and links to all of your favorite articles featuring the Bulldogs, please follow @SamfordSoccer and @Samford_Sports on Twitter.

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