Sept. 20, 2009

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The undefeated Samford soccer team earned its fifth-consecutive victory Sunday as the Bulldogs fought to a 1-0 triumph against the Winthrop Lady Eagles. At the rain-soaked Bulldog Field, Samford's Kelly Shaffer scored the game-winning goal during the 38th minute of play.

"I felt like we did a really good job today," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "We possessed the ball well, we knocked it around and we connected passes. I thought we struggled a bit in our attacking third, which has not been an issue for us this year, but it was wet out there today and the ball seemed to skip and skid. That made it a little harder for both teams with the final piece."

With the win, Samford (5-0-1) concluded its nonconference schedule with an undefeated record. The Bulldogs have not allowed a goal this season and recorded their sixth shutout of the 2009 campaign. Sophomore goalkeeper Alyssa Whitehead made two saves Sunday en route to her fifth complete-game shutout.

Heading into the weekend, Samford was one of only five teams in the nation that hasn't allowed a goal this season. The Bulldogs were also one of only 20 teams in the nation that have not been defeated.

"If you look at our body of work and the teams that we've played against this season, I think that 5-0-1 is really impressive," Yelton said. "I'm really proud of that and I'm happy that we're doing so well from a defensive standpoint. We've had a lot of quality results this season, but now the real season begins as we start conference play."

Winthrop (2-4-1) had its two-match winning streak snapped Sunday.

Heading into the match, the Lady Eagles posted back-to-back victories against Southern Conference members Appalachian State 1-0 and Wofford 2-1. Sunday's match marked Winthrop's sixth-straight road contest and its third-straight meeting with a SoCon opponent. The Lady Eagles finished their arduous road trip with a 2-3-1 record.

"Winthrop is a very good team," said Yelton. "I thought that they were very well organized and their center back Stevie Lucas was excellent. We subbed heavily in the first half and that was by design. It was very hot, humid and muggy today and we wanted to keep everybody fresh. I thought our reserves played very well and we only had two starters on the pitch when we scored our goal."

Samford scored its game-winning goal late in the first half of play. Shaffer, the Bulldogs' feisty junior from Auburn, Ala., registered her first goal of the 2009 season during the 38th minute.

On the score, Mary Shelton Bryant fed a centering pass from right to left to a slashing Melissa Miller in the box. Miller, Samford's junior midfielder, then turned and found Shaffer near the left flank 12 yards out. Shaffer one-timed the perfectly-placed pass and beat Winthrop's Kelsy Weavil to the bottom left corner of the goal.

The assists were the second of the season for both Bryant and Miller.

"Missy (Melissa Miller) played in a great ball and then Shaffer struck it well for the goal," said Yelton. "She was in great position and I felt like she was going to score it and I was really excited for Kelly, because she is such a hard worker. She's also improved tremendously since last season."

Samford outshot Winthrop 10-4 on Sunday and tallied three more corner kicks than the Lady Eagles. The Bulldogs finished the match with four corner kicks and five shots on goal.

The Samford University soccer team will next be in action Friday at 3 p.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs begin play in their SoCon schedule on the road against The Citadel Bulldogs. The conference-opening match will be played at the Washington Light Infantry Field in Charleston, S.C.