Sept. 18, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University soccer team will square off against its third-straight, in-state opponent Friday as the Bulldogs travel southeast to Auburn, Ala., for a non-conference matchup against the Auburn Tigers at 7:30 p.m., at the Auburn Soccer Complex.

Samford (1-6) will play its eighth-consecutive road match to open the 2008 season, including its third-straight against an in-state opponent. The Bulldogs own an 0-5 record in road contests this year and have most recently dropped hard-fought 1-0 decisions at Alabama and UAB.

"Playing on the road eight-straight times has definitely not been ideal," said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. "Sometimes in order to find good games, you have to go on the road and that's what we had to do this season. It's always a tough thing to do, especially when you look at your roster and you have 18 freshmen and sophomores on the team."

So far this season, the Bulldogs have undoubtedly played against their toughest schedule in school history.

Already in 2008, Samford has faced two opponents ranked in the Great Lakes Region, Milwaukee at No. 8 and Marquette at No. 13, as well as played a season-opening contest on the road against the nation's No. 9-ranked team, Texas. The Bulldogs' other three losses came by identical 1-0 scores versus Arkansas, Alabama and UAB.

"Our season thus far, in addition with tomorrow night, will have included matches against four SEC opponents, one from the Big 12, one from the Big East and one from Conference USA, as well as a match against Milwaukee which is ranked in the top 25 in some polls," Yelton said. "Even Mercer was picked second in their league and had quite a few No. 1 votes, so right now we're just trying to keep everything in perspective."

Samford has compiled a 1-1 record in neutral matches this year and its 1-0 victory against Mercer on Sept. 5 propelled the Bulldogs to the championship game of the 2008 adidas Gamecock Classic held in Jacksonville, Ala.

"There are a lot of positive things about this team that I'm happy about," said Yelton. "In the last four matches we've played, I've felt that we were the best team. The result just hasn't seemed to go our way because we've struggled to score. This group of players wants to succeed and even at 1-6 they are still training hard and trying to get better."

Auburn (3-4-1) heads into Friday's non-conference matchup with a full head of steam after the Tigers registered a solid 1-0 victory against Marquette on Sunday. In the win, junior Chelsea Yauch scored the game-winning goal during the seventh minute of play and Auburn's defense was able to hold on for the shutout.

Prior to Sunday's victory, the Tigers were held winless for five-straight matches. Auburn opened the 2008 campaign with consecutive victories against Grambling State 9-0 and UAB 1-0, but then dropped three games in a row to Missouri 1-0, Kansas 2-1 and Stanford 3-0.

On Sept. 7, the Tigers were able to snap their three-match losing streak with a 1-1 draw at Virginia. In its next match, Auburn fell at home to seventh-ranked Florida State 3-0. The Tigers are currently the 13th-ranked team in the talent-laden Southeast Region.

"Auburn is always a quality opponent," Yelton said. "(Head coach) Karen (Hoppa) does an outstanding job with them and they're going to want to keep possession and play towards the net. They play very good interchanging soccer with their midfielders and forwards and it's going to be a tough task for us. Plus, it's LSU-Auburn in football Saturday, so there will be a huge crowd there for the match."

Samford will square off against Auburn for the fifth time in school history Friday.

The Bulldogs are 0-4 versus the Tigers and 0-2 in the series when playing at the Auburn Soccer Complex. Last season, the teams squared off at Bulldog Field in Birmingham, Ala., and Auburn rallied for a 3-0 victory.

Following Friday's in-state matchup against Auburn, the Samford University soccer team will next be in action Sept. 26 as the Bulldogs host the Elon Phoenix for the school's first-ever Southern Conference game. The match will also be Samford's first home contest of the 2008 season and is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., at Bulldog Field.

GameTracker - Samford at Auburn