Birmingham, Ala. – Nicole Levermann scored two goals and Lea Raedle tallied the game-winner to lead The Citadel to a 3-2 victory over Southern Conference leader Samford in women's soccer action Friday evening.

The Citadel (4-8-2, 2-5 SoCon) defeated Samford for the first time in seven all-time meetings and handed the host Bulldogs their first home loss of the season. Samford (10-4-1, 4-2-1) had lost only to Furman, Texas and Memphis and boasted wins over Tennessee, Auburn and Vanderbilt.

Levermann gave The Citadel leads of 1-0 and 2-1, the latter five minutes into the second half, but both times Samford responded, including a goal by Amanda Abbott that knotted the game at two less than a minute after Levermann's second score.

The Bulldogs eventually took the lead for good in the 59th minute when Raedle scored off an assist by Ana Mesa to make it 3-2. Samford took 11 shots the rest of the way, but Naomi Carter stopped six of them to secure the victory.

Levermann's goals were her third and fourth of the season, giving her 16 in her career and moving the senior in a tie with Julie Austin and Vanessa Aponte for fifth in

 

history.

 

Raedle scored her second goal of the year while Mesa collected her third assist of the season and 10th of her career to move into sole possession of second place in the school record book, five behind Aponte.

The Citadel had scored only one goal and was never ahead in any of its previous six road games this season before taking the lead on three separate occasions on Friday.

Samford outshot The Citadel 26-5 but Carter was equal to the task with 12 saves, increasing the freshman goalkeeper's SoCon leading total to 130. One of her saves came on a Trine Taule penalty kick attempt in the first half with The Citadel holding on to a 1-0 lead after Levermann's first goal of the night.

The Bulldogs will look for the weekend sweep when they play at Chattanooga on Sunday at 2 p.m. The Mocs are 5-9 overall after Friday's 3-2 non-conference home win over Francis Marion and 0-6 in the SoCon.