BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – We will continue this year's Inside Samford Athletics Presented by Alabama Power with this week's edition featuring head women's soccer coach Todd Yelton.
 
Yelton is beginning his 21st season as the program's head coach. He recently earned his 300^th career win, with 260 of those coming at Samford. Yelton talked about what the milestone means to him.
 
"I was thinking about that and when I came here and started out in this, 300 would not have been a number that I would have imagined," Yelton said. "I didn't even know it until you guys interviewed me at the end of it. It's something to be thankful for and all of the kids I've gotten to meet and people I've gotten to work with. I've gotten to work at two great institutions, mainly here at Samford. I'm thankful and humbled by it, and probably as much as anything, surprised by it. There are a lot of people that had a lot to do with it outside of me. With 300 wins, I've hired good assistants."
 
The program also recently held its annual Shauna's House Night, raising money for orphans in Ukraine, in honor of Yelton's late wife. The game ended in a 1-1 tie with ETSU, who is led by head coach Jay Yelton and assistant coach Matt Yelton, both brothers of Todd.
 
"A good portion of the Yelton family was happy that night," Yelton said. "Jay and Matt to get the late goal there, Mom and Dad, because it's a tie with their boys, which I've always thought Jay was their favorite anyway. But, the overall theme of raising money to help people in Ukraine and just how this community loves my family and supports our family and how this community is now helping a community that's thousands of miles away in a very, very difficult time. So, it was a really great thing and I'm so thankful for those people who have come along and partnered with us and given and supported because we couldn't do it without them."
 
This season has been an up and down year for the Bulldogs. A lot of close games that Samford has won in the past have ended in either a tie or a close loss. Yelton talked about how he views the season to this point.
 
"I felt like last year every ball bounced our way," Yelton said. "I would not say that about this year. We've had some unfortunate things happen as far as in the closing moments of games, some of those that we can control and some of those that we can't control. All you can do is keep pressing forward. I do think we have a very good team. I think we're starting to pass the ball better and get ourselves in good looks. The kids are working hard, it's a good group of kids, high character kids. And part of it is our own expectations. I mean, if you really look at it, there are a lot of teams that would take our record, we've only lost three all year. It's just, for us, the standards are a bit higher than that."
 
The NCAA made a significant rule change prior to this season, eliminating overtime in the regular season. Yelton talked about how he views the rule change.
 
"It's a lesson in, you don't know what you don't know," Yelton said. "I was actually for the rule change because a lot of the games ended up in ties. I never imagined that there would be such a massive increase in ties, though. Because if you look at it, we're up from 10 percent of games ending in a tie last year to well over 20. On a Sunday, you're close to 25 percent. We still have games to play, and we've already doubled (the number of ties from last year). But it's a very different mentality for the kids. When you get to the 10-minute mark, you're not thinking I have this, plus overtime, you're thinking I have 10 minutes. And the other piece of it is, coaches can manipulate the game through substitutions or all that kind of stuff and make it slower and slower. I think there are several games that, had they gone to overtime would have gone a little bit better for us, but we could have easily gone in some of the games, and it bounce the other way. I hope the committee will consider bringing back overtime."
 
This weekend is Samford's final regular-season weekend, with games at Furman Friday at 5 p.m. (CT), and at Wofford Sunday at 1 p.m. (CT). The Bulldogs control their own destiny to secure one of the top two seeds and host the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds.  
 
"It's massive," Yelton said of the upcoming weekend. "You can throw the records out when us and Furman play. It's never easy. They have some really good attacking pieces, they're a well-coached team, they're difficult to break down and they have Nieva Gaither, who was the Player of the Year last year and she can hurt you in a hurry. Playing there is a really difficult place to play at Furman. They generally have a good crowd, good support. That will be big and then we'll bounce back and play Wofford, who has played everybody really tight and actually has picked up some quality wins. They got a win over ETSU and a draw against Furman.
 
"Unless some crazy things happen and we can win the next two, obviously, we're probably not going to win the league," Yelton said. "But I tend to think that everybody still gets up to play Samford. I think it's a game that matters to everyone else in this league when they play us. We appreciate the respect, but we wish, every once in a while, it was just a little bit easier, but it never is."
 
Both games this weekend can be seen live on ESPN+. To follow the games online, go to the following link: SAMFORD SCHEDULE.


 
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For the latest news and information on Samford women's soccer, visit the official website for Samford Athletics at SamfordSports.com. Fans can also follow the Bulldogs on social media at /SamfordSports (Facebook), @SamfordSoccer (Twitter), and @SamfordSoccer (Instagram).