HOMEWOOD, Ala. — Top-seeded Samford scored 62 seconds into the match and never let up, ending Western Carolina’s season with a 5-1 victory in the Southern Conference Tournament quarterfinals Sunday at Shauna Yelton Field.
The ninth-seeded Catamounts finish the year 5-12-3. Gabriela Vatrano scored in the 69th minute for WCU’s lone goal, but the Bulldogs, whose defense ranked fifth nationally in goals-against average entering the tournament, controlled most of the afternoon in front of 217 fans.
Samford wasted no time. Samantha De Luca finished an assist from Brinley Murphy at 1:02, and the Bulldogs spent the rest of the first half pinning WCU back, outshooting the Catamounts 11-2 before the break. Goalkeeper Amara Yetka kept it a one-goal game with five first-half saves, leaving WCU within reach at halftime.
That window closed quickly after the restart. Anne McBride made it 2-0 at 47:20, and Murphy, this time set up by De Luca, pushed the lead to 3-0 in the 57th minute. Martha Bishop added a fourth at 67:35 off an assist from Caroline Smith, the league’s Defender of the Year.
The Catamounts answered almost immediately. Just 81 seconds after Bishop’s goal, Vatrano put WCU on the board at 68:56 on an assist from Caroline Simpkins. It was Vatrano’s seventh goal of the season and came against Peyton Hull, the SoCon Goalkeeper of the Year, who finished with two saves over 79 minutes and 36 seconds. Vatrano ended the day with two shots, one on goal.
Samford responded in kind. Brooklyn Miller scored at 73:31, assisted by Ryann Weber, to set up the 5-1 final. The Bulldogs outshot WCU 24-10, put 14 shots on target to the Catamounts’ five, and held an 11-1 advantage in corner kicks. Yetka finished with nine saves, keeping the margin from growing wider. Samantha Vibberts led WCU with two shots, and Katarina Schmidler, Darien Vita and Malia Roberts each put one on target.
WCU’s first shot of the match did not come until 12:37, when Vatrano got one off while Samford was doing most of the attacking. The Catamounts’ best second-half pressure arrived after Vatrano’s goal, with Vibberts and Schmidler each testing Samford goalkeeper Brooklyn Vann in the final 10 minutes, but Vann turned both away. The match was a choppy one, with Samford whistled for 17 fouls to WCU’s 10, and Vita picked up a yellow card in the 25th minute.
The loss came two days after one of the Catamounts’ best performances of the year. As the ninth seed on Friday, WCU fell behind early against eighth-seeded The Citadel, answered with four first-half goals, and held off a second-half rally for a 4-3 win on Samford’s own field. The win avenged a regular-season loss to the Cadets and extended WCU’s streak to six consecutive SoCon quarterfinal appearances. Entering the weekend, the Catamounts had not lost at Yelton Field since the 2022 regular season.
The matchup also carried the weight of recent history. WCU and Samford have claimed the last five SoCon tournament championships, and their previous two postseason meetings were both championship matches. This time, though, the gap between the programs was clear. Samford, the top overall seed, won a share of the regular-season title at 8-0-2 in conference play and allowed only three league goals all season. WCU was one of just three teams to score on the Bulldogs in that stretch.
Samford head coach Todd Yelton said he was pleased with his team’s performance against a coach and program he respects. The Bulldogs (12-2-5) advance to the semifinals next weekend, where they will chase a third straight tournament title.
For the Catamounts, who finished 2-6-2 in conference play, the season ends in Birmingham, one win short of a return to the SoCon semifinals.
