Sept. 5, 2008

Box Score

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Samford University soccer team opened the 2008 adidas Gamecock Classic with a 1-0 victory against the Mercer Bears on Friday at the JSU Soccer Field. The Bulldogs' Shannon Healy scored the game-winning goal in the 35th minute of the first half.

"I didn't think we played our best soccer, but we were able to fight and get a win," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "We came out flat in the first half, but I guess that will happen when your travel bus doesn't have any air conditioning on the way over. I challenged them at halftime and they came out and played a lot better in the second half."

With the shutout victory, Samford (1-3) extended its undefeated streak against Mercer (1-3) to seven-straight matches. The Bulldogs' last loss to the Bears occurred Oct. 23, 1997. Samford also improved its all-time record in the series to 6-1-1.

Mercer suffered its third scoreless defeat of the 2008 campaign. Prior to Friday's loss, the Bears dropped matches to No. 18 Georgia 2-0 and Davidson 1-0, but recorded a 4-0 victory against Jackson State on Sunday.

"I was really impressed with how Mercer played and how hard they fought tonight," Yelton said. "(Head coach) Grant (Serafy) has done an outstanding job with that program and now they are one of the more competitive teams in the Southeast. Honestly, we were lucky that they didn't score a couple of goals on us tonight."

During the 35th minute, Samford's Healy scored the lone goal of the match.

On the scoring play, the Bulldogs sent a free kick from the right sideline deep into Mercer's territory. A Bear defender headed it out to the middle of the field where Healy gathered it and then rifled a right-footer into the bottom left corner of the net from 20 yards out.

Healy, a true freshman midfielder from Crystal Beach, Fla., tallied her first collegiate goal on the play.

"Wow, Healy really got into that shot and found the far post and it was a great goal," said Yelton. "It was awesome to see her score her first goal as a Bulldog and she was really excited. Hopefully, it will be the first of many to come."

Samford's senior goalkeeper Cayley Winters played all 90 minutes in goal for the Bulldogs and tallied her 16th-career shutout. She finished the game with three saves and earned her first shutout of 2008.

The Bulldogs outshot the Bears 10-7 and tallied one more corner kick to finish with a 6-5 advantage.

The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Sunday at 1 p.m., as the Bulldogs square off against the Arkansas Lady'Backs at the JSU Soccer Field in Jacksonville, Ala.