FRIDAY’S SCORES
LSU 1, Samford 0 (2OT)
@Missouri 1, Southeast Missouri 1 (Missouri wins on a shootout)
LSU 1, SAMFORD 0
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Samford University soccer team's record-setting season came to an end Friday as the Bulldogs suffered a 1-0 (2OT) loss to the LSU Tigers in the NCAA Tournament. LSU’s Roslyn Jones scored the game-winner during the sixth minute of double overtime.
Samford (15-5-1) played Friday without the efforts of two of its top scorers in Amber Cress and Cassie Applegate. Both players were inactive due to injuries.
The Bulldogs suffered another setback midway through the first half as senior Heather Birdsell pulled up lame and was also injured. Samford’s four-time All-Ohio Valley Conference performer did not return in the game.
With its 1-0 double-overtime win, LSU (12-4-7) advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history and will face top-seeded Florida State (14-5-3) on Sunday at noon.
On LSU’s game-winning goal, Rachel Yepez rifled a shot from 25 yards out that caromed off the crossbar. On the shot attempt, Samford’s goalkeeper Cayley Winters went to her left for the save, but the ball bounded directly to Jones who tapped it in for the score.
The Tigers attempted 27 shots Friday and limited the Bulldogs to six.
Despite being on the defensive for most of the match, Samford nearly picked up the victory at the end of regulation as freshman Lauren Cook sent a shot that just barely to the right of the goal.
In overtime, the teams played even soccer until LSU’s game-winning goal. The Bulldogs attacked offensively and sent two shot attempts that nearly won the match.
LSU finished the opening period with seven shot attempts and three shots on goal. Samford tallied three shots in the first half, with two being on goal.
The Bulldogs’ first scoring opportunity of the opening period occurred during the 17th minute of play. Samford’s four-year starter, Birdsell, rattled off a bouncing right-footed kick from 20 yards out that LSU goalkeeper Valerie Vogler bobbled for a moment then covered up for the save.
At 31:18 into the match, Samford tallied its best scoring chance of the opening period as Leah Leppert headed a crossing pass towards the top right corner of the goal. The shot attempt was from 10 yards out and Vogler made a leaping stop to her left to save the goal.
The Samford University soccer team concluded its 2007 season with a record-tying 15 wins and its second NCAA Tournament appearance in three seasons.
MISSOURI 1, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 1
COLUMBIA, Mo. - For the second straight game, the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks women's soccer team went to a five-kick shootout. Through two overtimes in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship, the Redhawks tied the No. 23 Missouri Tigers 1-1 at Walton Stadium in Columbia, Mo., but they ultimately fell 2-0 in the game-ending shootout.
The shootout marked the second consecutive game that a Redhawks (12-2-4) match went to penalty kicks after the OVC Tournament Championship with Samford was decided in the same manner. After Kat Tarr netted the first penalty kick for Missouri (13-7-1), none of the four Redhawks managed to score on their kicks. Mallory Forst, the Mizzou goalkeeper, clinched the win for the Tigers as her penalty kick sailed into the right side of the goal.
The Tigers controlled the pace throughout the game, remaining on the offensive for the majority of the match as they out-shout Southeast 26-3 for the game; they also had a 10-1 advantage in corner kicks. Missouri scored the game's first goal in the 17th minute when sophomore forward Michelle Collins weaved past a series of defenders to score the unassisted goal past senior Lindsay Pickering's outstretched leg.
Despite the relentless offensive play by Missouri, Pickering, the OVC Defensive Player of the Year, recorded nine saves, just one shy of her season high. In the second half, the Redhawks defensive did not allow a goal despite 10 shots made by the Tigers, and Pickering had four saves, including a pair of diving stops.
The Redhawks gained momentum inside the final 10 minutes of the first period. In the 43rd minutes, freshman Vanessa Hart passed a perfect long throughball to the OVC Offensive Player of the Year Courtney Alexander. Matched up with the goalkeeper one-on-one, Alexander placed Southeast Missouri State's first ever NCAA tournament goal in the right side of the net to tie the game at one.
Her goal was one of just three shots the Redhawks made in the game, and one of only two shots on goal.