BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- During the 2019-20 season, Samford teams won a combined eight Southern Conference regular season or tournament titles, the most in any year in school history. The eighth championships were soccer regular season, soccer tournament, volleyball regular season, volleyball tournament, men's indoor track and field, women's indoor track and field, women's basketball regular season and women's basketball tournament.
 
Over the next few weeks SamfordSports.com will look back at each team that won championships during the season. In Tuesday's first edition, we will look back at the impressive season turned in by the soccer squad.


 
Over his 18 years as the head coach of the Samford soccer program, Todd Yelton has built one of the most consistent programs in the country. In the fall of 2019, Yelton's squad won a Southern Conference-record sixth-straight league regular-season title, and then won the SoCon Tournament and earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
In addition to the championships, Taylore Miller was named the SoCon's Defensive Player of the Year, marking the fifth-straight season a Samford player has won the honor. Miller, fellow defender Lexi Orman, forward Taylor Yount, midfielder Alyssa Frazier and goalkeeper Morgan McAslan were all named first team All-SoCon. Forward Caroline Orman earned second team All-SoCon honors.
 
The future looks bright for the program as well, with three Bulldogs (Yount, Nikki Bario and Kyla Reynolds) being named to the league's All-Freshman team. Entering the 2019 season, however, Samford was not picked to win the league in the Coaches' Preseason Poll.
 
Despite entering the season as the five-time defending champions, Samford was picked to finish second in the league's preseason poll. UNCG was tabbed as the league favorite by the coaches.
 
As always, the Bulldogs played a stellar non-conference schedule. Samford opened with a 0-0 tie against cross-town rival UAB and a 2-0 loss to Murray State. The Bulldogs then pulled out one of the most dramatic wins of the season, earning a 3-2, double-overtime win over Western Kentucky on a goal by Grace Sommi in the 110^th minute.
 
Samford then took on the first of two SEC opponents, hosting defending SEC Tournament champion LSU. The Bulldogs and Tigers fought to a 2-2 draw at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium. The team then earned a 3-0 win over MTSU before falling in a tough match at sixth-ranked Florida State.
 
The Bulldogs then earned a 5-0 win over Alabama State, with Yount producing her first career hat trick, netting three of the team's five goals in the victory. Next up was another SEC showdown as Samford played at Auburn, playing the Tigers to a 3-3 tie. In the team's final non-conference game, Samford tied DePaul, 0-0 in Chicago, Ill.
 
In the Southern Conference opener, the Bulldogs played Furman to the team's fifth tie of the season, with the game ending in a 1-1 stalemate. The team then reeled off four-straight victories to run the program's SoCon regular-season unbeaten streak to 30-straight contests.
 
The Bulldogs started the four-game streak with a 1-0 win at home over the Wofford Terriers. The team then went on the road for four-straight games, earning wins over ETSU (2-1), Western Carolina (3-0) and The Citadel (6-0). The final game of the road swing was a 1-0 loss at Mercer, ending Samford's 30-game SoCon regular season unbeaten streak. The team's last loss in regular-season conference play came on Sept. 25, 2016 in a 3-2 setback at Furman.
 
Despite the loss, the Bulldogs went back to work and returned home with a 2-0 win over SoCon preseason favorite UNCG. The team when picked up a 5-0 win over the VMI Keydets.
 
Samford went into its final regular season game against rival Chattanooga needing a win to secure a share of its sixth-straight regular-season title. Junior Alyssa Frazier scored a goal in the 57^th minute off an assist from Bario to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. In the final minutes of the game, McAslan narrowly saved a Chattanooga shot to preserve the win and give the Bulldogs a share of the regular-season title.
 
 
The Bulldogs entered the SoCon Tournament as the No. 1 seed and hosted the No. 8 seed The Citadel in the quarterfinals. Samford earned a 5-1 win over The Citadel, with four of the team's five goals coming from freshmen.
 
Next up, the Bulldogs went to Greensboro, N.C., for the tournament semifinals and a matchup with the Mercer Bears. Looking to avenge the team's lone SoCon loss, Samford netted three second-half goals to pull away for the 3-0 win. After an own goal broke the scoreless tie, seniors Keyli Borman and Erin Bonner added late goals for the three-goal victory.
 
In the championship game, top-seeded Samford took on second-seeded and co-champion Furman. Frazier scored off of a free kick in the 17^th minute for a 1-0 Bulldog advantage. McAslan had eight saves in posting a second-straight shutout as Samford won the tournament and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Following the tournament victory, McAslan was named the event's Most Outstanding Player. She was joined on the All-SoCon Tournament team by Kylie Gazza, Allie Lourie and Miller. Additionally, Miller won the Pinnacle Award, which goes to the player with the highest GPA on the championship winning team.
 
The week following the SoCon Tournament Samford found out it was being sent to Columbia, S.C., to take on the fifth-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Bulldogs put forth a valiant effort, but a late first-half goal by the Gamecocks' Samantha Chang gave the home team a 1-0 lead heading into the locker room at halftime. USC added two second-half goals to down the Bulldogs, 3-0.
 
Samford ended its season with a mark of 13-4-5 overall and 7-1-1 in SoCon games. Since Samford moved into the SoCon in 2008, the Bulldogs have posted an impressive 91-13-15 record in league play. The program has won a total of seven regular-season titles and three SoCon Tournament championships.
 
The fact that the Bulldogs won the conference title again in 2019 with such a young teams bodes well as the program moves forward into the 2020 season and beyond.