STARKVILLE, Miss. --- In its final exhibition match of the 2011 season, the Samford University soccer team dropped a 3-0 decision on the road Monday against the Mississippi State Bulldogs in a preseason contest held at the MSU Soccer Field.

Samford (0-1-1) and Mississippi State (1-0-0) battled to 72 scoreless minutes of play before Elisabeth Sullivan tallied the game-winning goal at exactly 72:28. Down the stretch, MSU's Jasmine Simmons later tacked on a pair of scores to extend the Bulldogs' winning advantage to 3-0. Simmons' late goals occurred in the 87th and 88th minutes of play.

On Sullivan's decisive score, Mississippi State's Tarah Henderson registered the assist, while Sullivan and Amy Hoover helped set up each of Simmons' late goals.

Samford's starting goalkeeper Alyssa Whitehead accumulated 10 saves in 73:55 minutes of action. MSU goalkeeper Skylar Rosson registered a shutout and played all 90 minutes of the match.

Offensively, Samford's attack was paced by senior Shannon Weathington who finished the contest with four shot attempts, two of which were on goal. Sophomore Trine Taule, the Bulldogs' leading scorer with nine goals last season, rattled off a pair of shot attempts Monday, but only played 32 minutes.

Samford concluded the match with four players earning all 90 minutes of playing time. True freshmen Amanda Abbott and Katie Danehy both earned 90 minutes of game action, while sophomore Mary Grabowsky and junior Sabbath McKiernan-Allen also battled for the entire contest.

With Monday's loss at Mississippi State, Samford closed out its preseason exhibition play with an 0-1-1 record. Both of the Bulldogs' matches came against Southeast Conference opponents and Samford will open its regular-season schedule Friday at home versus Belmont. The match will be the season opener of the 2011 campaign and will be held at 7 p.m. (CST) at the Bulldogs' Samford Soccer Complex.

Samford's first exhibition match of the preseason was held Friday against the Tennessee Lady Vols. The Bulldogs and Lady Vols fought to a 0-0 draw at the Samford Soccer Complex.

Radford 1, Appalachian State 0

RADFORD, Va. - Despite solid defensive play and a handful of scoring chances, Appalachian State women's soccer fell to Radford University, 1-0, in preseason action Monday night. The defending Big South regular-season champions scored on a penalty kick in the 79th minute to hand the Black and Gold a loss in its only tune-up contest before the Sunday's official start of the season.

The Mountaineers fought hard in the first half with keeper Amy Kolowsky (Columbia, S.C./Spring Valley) completing a scoreless first half in goal. Meggie Graham (Marietta, Ga./Walton) recorded a one-touch shot on a cross but was stymied by Highlander keeper Lisa Lubke.

Wind and rain hampered both teams in the second half. Callie Johnson (Atlanta, Ga./U. of South Carolina) got free for a breakaway, but found her chance broken up by the RU keeper.

A late-game penalty proved fatal, as Rachel Conway's successful PK gave Radford the win on the game's only score.

Overall, Appalachian coach Sarah Strickland found some positives in the game. "I was glad to see our team play hard. We had the chance to get a lot of players into the game and see our newcomers in action."

ASU will kick off its regular season by hosting Army on Sun., Aug. 21, beginning at 11 a.m. The Black Knights were undefeated in Patriot League last season and come to Boone for the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

Scoring Summary
79' RU Rachel Conway (unassisted) penalty kick