Samford Soccer Falls to Jacksonville St. 1-0 :: Bulldogs now 6-2-1 in Atlantic Sun

Oct. 15, 2002

Jacksonville State senior defender Cecelia Lounder scored in the 58th minute, leading JSU to a 1-0 victory over Samford in a game that featured only 11 shots between the two teams.

The match was a classic battle between the instate Atlantic Sun rivals, with stingy defense and few shots by either JSU (10-2-1, 7-1-1 A-Sun) or Samford (12-3-1, 6-2-1). Lounder's goal was lofted from 30 yards from the center of the field. It snuck through the hands of goalkeeper Crystal Royall, who only moments earlier made a difficult save from much closer, turning away JSU's Christina Simpson from point-blank range.

After the goal, JSU drew back and played excellent defense, clearing nearly every ball that neared the box and winning possession on the others. This was Jacksonville State's 10th shutout of the season.

"Games between evenly matched teams come down to the little things," said coach Todd Yelton. "And they did the little things better than we did tonight."

The Bulldogs only took three shots for the game, with two coming in the second half. Samford's best opportunity to even the score came in the 64th minute, when sophomore Kathy Nichols took a free kick from 25 yards that hit the middle crossbar. Freshman Marian Wagner missed a header over the goal in the 48th minute.

"We didn't do too well in the final third tonight," Yelton said.

Heavy rain slowed the pace of play in the first half. The Bulldogs only managed one shot in the first half. Freshman Allison Provine's effort in the 24th minute was the Bulldogs' only shot on goal for the game. Jacksonville State took seven shots. Royall had five saves. JSU had 13 fouls. Samford was whistled for 14. Provine was issued a yellow card in the 53rd minute. JSU's Joanna McCaughey was called for a yellow in the 81st minute.

Samford's road doesn't get any easier. The Bulldogs travel to Florida for matches with Florida Atlantic (8-4, 5-1) on Oct. 19 and Central Florida (11-3, 6-0) on Oct. 21. The final home match of the year is Nov. 1 against Austin Peay.