BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – We kick off a new year of Inside Athletics, Presented by Alabama Power, with the 2022 soccer season preview. Jon McAfoos, Assistant AD for Marketing, Strategic Communications and Broadcast Services, recently sat down with Head Coach Todd Yelton to talk about his team's upcoming season.
 
Yelton is beginning his 21st season as the program's head coach. The team has won eight-straight Southern Conference regular-season championships, and the Bulldogs are the favorites to win a ninth-straight title.
 
The Bulldogs return all but two starters from last year's team that went 16-3-3 overall and 9-0 in SoCon play and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Yelton talked about how he and his team are approaching this season.
 
"I really do believe it's more about the process," Yelton said. "The kids show up, do their best every day and our kids work really, really hard, and I think it shows through when we play. You can't walk down the hall of Pete Hanna without somebody expecting you to beat North Carolina or Florida State, which is a little bit of insanity. But we're just going to try to get better, game by game. I think you can put yourself in a really bad situation where you've put tremendous pressure on yourself, which is not needed. We're excited about it and look at it as just a great opportunity."
 
Samford returns a large group of seniors. The group has four preseason All-SoCon selections in Taylor Yount, Kyla Reynolds, Mary Raymond and Kylie Gazza. Yelton talked about this group of seniors and what they have brought to the program.
 
"I think you can see the upward trend even," Yelton said. "Historically here we've been pretty good. We've been about a top 50 or 60 program over the last bit, and we've had some great players. But, as a group, they've accomplished a lot. We talk about family a lot and they are definitely like sisters. They push and pull each other, and sometimes that makes for easier days than others. At this point, they've played in a lot of massive games, and they've also been through some heartache as well. They've seen the highs and lows of soccer for sure, but they just keep rowing in the same direction and kind of are the catalyst of what we do here, and they probably have the most to say about our season."
 
Samford's non-conference schedule is a typically hard slate. The Bulldogs will take on Power 5 opponents Ole Miss and Auburn at home, as well as West Virginia at a neutral site, among other stellar opponents. Yelton talked about the non-conference schedule and how he approaches scheduling.
 
"In the past, it was probably looking at it getting ready for the conference season," Yelton said. "If you look at it from last year when we were probably just a touch off from being able to host a first round NCAA game, every game matters, every one of our games matter. Right off the bat, we go to Houston to play Rice, who is picked to win Conference USA, and Brian does a great job down there and their team is going to be really, really good, maybe the best team on our schedule, at least early on. It's a challenging schedule. I'm really looking forward to playing the teams we get to play. I'm incredibly thankful that those teams will play us year in and year out."
 
Samford will open the regular season this Thursday, Aug, 18, at Jacksonville State. For links to follow each game, go to the following link: SAMFORD SOCCER 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 (Instagram) and @SamfordSoccer (Twitter).