BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Oct. 14, 2023) – On a cool, cloudy Sunday in the suburbs of Birmingham, three men from Piney Flats will coach one of the biggest games of the Jay Yelton era at ETSU. 
  
The "Yelton Bowl" pits the ETSU women's soccer team, with head coach Jay Yelton and assistant Matt Yelton, against their older brother Todd and his perennial contender Samford Bulldogs. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. Eastern at Shauna Yelton Field at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium. 
 
THE MATCHUP  
ETSU (9-2-4, 5-1-1) at Samford (9-3-4, 5-1-1) 
Sunday, October 14 | 2:00 p.m. | Shauna Yelton Field (Birmingham, Ala.) | ESPN+ | Live Stats 
  
ABOUT THE BUCS  
·       The Bucs come in off a 1-0 win over UNCG on Thursday. Grace Eatz scored on a free kick from just outside the box in the 44th minute, and Ashton Blair and the defense made it stand up as the difference. 
·       ETSU is tied with Samford for second in the SoCon standings at 16 points, two points back of league-leading Western Carolina. With a win Sunday, ETSU plays the Catamounts a week from Sunday for the 2023 SoCon regular season title. 
·       Blair tied the single-season shutout record on Thursday, previously held by her former teammate Shu Ohba. Blair has seven shutouts this season and 10 in her career which is tied with Ohba for third most in school history. 
·       The Bucs are third in the nation in team goals against average (0.400), 12th in save percentage (.878), and second in shutout rate (73.3%). 
 
 
ABOUT SAMFORD 
·       The Bulldogs scored twice in 10 minutes in the first half to beat Mercer 2-1. Whitaker Buchanan scored in the 14th minute and Kaitlin Maynard delivered in the 24th to get the Bulldogs their ninth win of 2023. 
·       Todd Yelton's team is led in scoring by graduate students Mary Raymond and Kyla Reynolds with five goals each. Raymond is in her fifth year at Samford and has 17 career goals, while Reynolds is in her sixth season at Samford with 23 career goals, tied for sixth-most in program history. 
·       Samford is 5-2-1 at home this season and 19-4-7 at Shauna Yelton Field since 2021. 
 
SERIES HISTORY 
·       This is the 13th meeting between ETSU and Samford in women's soccer. The Buccaneers are 1-10-1 against the Bulldogs. 
·       The last meeting between the two teams ended in a 1-1 draw at Samford on October 14, 2022. Sinoxolo Cesane scored in the 90th minute for ETSU to send the Bucs home with a point. 
·       The Bucs' only win in the series came in their first meeting as conference foes on October 3, 2014. Sarh Zadrazil scored twice, and Emilee Engelhaupt added another all in the span of 8:36 out of halftime, to win 3-1 at Samford. 
 
UP NEXT  
ETSU returns home for the regular season finale against league-leading Western Carolina Sunday, October 22, at 2 p.m. 
 
For more information on ETSU women's soccer, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the women's soccer tab.