‘Dogs Playing Better Than Record Shows

Three results in the win column probably doesn’t reflect how Samford has played during the non-conference part of their season.

The Bulldogs suffered a second-straight heartbreaking defeat, when they dropped a 2-1 decision at home to the Jacksonville State Gamecocks.

Samford outshot Jacksonville State 22-7, but only scored one goal. In the previous game, Samford held a 25-6 shots advantage against Kennesaw State, and also lost 2-1. The Bulldogs will take a 3-5 non-league record into their Southern Conference opener against the Georgia Southern Eagles.

“They don’t give you wins for possession, they give you wins for putting balls in the back of the net,” said Samford head coach Todd Yelton. “I think we could have played better tonight.

“It’s unfortunate, but we don’t get to determine how our opponents play. Jacksonville State had a fantastic game plan and in matches like tonight we need courageous players and players with desire, and we were lacking in both of those areas.”

With its victory, Jacksonville State (7-2-1) remained undefeated on the road this season at 4-0 and snapped a six-match losing streak against Samford. The Gamecocks’ previous win over their in-state rival Bulldogs occurred in 2002 by a score of 1-0.

Samford sophomore Amanda Abbott (Marietta, GA) scored both goals in the 2-1 losses.

A pair of freshmen combined for the Gamecocks’ first goal, with Brianna Boutziouvis (Ontario, Canada) scoring her fourth goal of the season off an assist from from Katt Dowd (Kingwood, TX). The game-winner came with less than six minutes to play when Courtney Hurt (Huntsville, AL) was set up by Boutziouvis and finished her fifth of the season.

“We certainly should have done better on the first-half goal that we gave up,” Yelton said. “We made a mental mistake, and then on their second goal we were dispossessed and their player just hit a great shot.

“I don’t think that we can fault (goalkeeper) Jessica (Perry) on either one of those goals. I wouldn’t hang either one of their goals on Jessica’s shoulders.”

After the loss to Kennesaw, Yelton said his team was not ready to play, and put the blame for that on his own shoulders.

“The biggest thing is that we didn’t have the right mentality to start the match,” Yelton had said. “That comes back to me as a head coach and it was my fault that I didn’t have my players ready to go.”

After the loss to Jacksonville State, Yelton talked about courage and desire, and placed the responsibility where it needed to be placed. On the players!