Bears Fall On Road To Samford, 2-0

Friday, September 25

Birmingham, Ala.

7 p.m. ET

Mercer University

5-5-1, 0-2-0

Samford

5-2-3, 2-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Mercer	0	0	0
Samford	1	1	2

9/25/2026 9:50:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Mercer women's soccer team suffered a 2-0 defeat at defending SoCon champion Samford Friday night from Shauna Yelton Field in Birmingham, Alabama.

Samford (5-2-3, 2-0-0) outshot Mercer (5-5-1, 0-2-0) 14-10 and shots on goal were 5-4, Samford. The Bulldogs had 11 corner kicks to Mercer's five, and Samford capitalized on one of their corners for their second goal of the game.

Mercer made some changes to its starting lineup, with Ariel Bolton and Sam Reitz making their first starts of the season. With those changes, the Bears came out on the front foot to start the game, putting pressure on the Samford defense and creating a few good scoring chances. One of those chances came from Bolton, who in the fourth minute, took a right-footed shot from the top of the box that nearly curled into the far left post, but Samford's goalie Pyton Hull got her right hand on the ball to save it out for a Mercer corner kick.

In the 16th minute, Samford's Jessica Askey played a ball over the Mercer defense that was settled nicely off the chest by the Bulldogs' Samantha De Luca who then touched the ball past Mercer's Avery Parker and slotted her shot into the opening net on a tough-angle shot to give Samford the 1-0 lead.

Neither side could find a goal for the remaining 29 minutes of the first half as the score remained 1-0, Samford at halftime.

Samford added a critical second goal early in the second half. In the 47th minute, a Bulldogs corner found the foot of Mamie Carman who took a touch and took a weak shot that was placed well to the far right post to put the Bulldogs ahead, 2-0.

Mercer pushed to get one goal back with Bolton and Olivia Bori having the best chances of scoring in the 77th and 78th minutes, but both of their shots sail just over the crossbar as Samford held on for the 2-0 win.

SCORING SUMMARY
16'	SAMFORD GOAL: Samantha De Luca (3) ASSISTS: Jessica Askey
47'	SAMFORD GOAL: Mamie Carman (1) ASSISTS: Alex Parr, Caroline Smith

NOTABLES

+ Ariel Bolton and Sam Reitz made their first starts of the season for the Bears.
+ Neither team had many shots on goal as Samford had five to Mercer's four.
+ Avery Parker made three saves in goal for Mercer.
+ Ariel Bolton led Mercer with three shots.

UP NEXT

Mercer hots The Citadel on Thursday, Oct. 1 in the SoCon home opener for the Bears. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET.

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