BIRMINGHAM, AL.- Georgia Southern Women's Soccer inaugurates the 2013 Southern Conference play at Samford on Friday night at 7pm. The defending SoCon Champions close the opening weekend of league play at Chattanooga on Sunday afternoon at 2pm.

The Eagles finished non-conference play last weekend at Mercer, falling 2-3 in a well-fought battle against the Bears. Entering SoCon play, the Eagles post a 1-5-1 record. Freshman Jennifer Wittick is leading the Eagles with three goals on the season so far, while Sydnie Van Curen, Abria Allen, and Cori Dulmage post one goal each.

In the corresponding contests last season, the Eagles fell to Samford 2-1 in a tough comeback by the Bulldogs, who scored the game-winning goal in the 69th minute. The Eagles retaliated by hammering Chattanooga 5-0 in their second SoCon game of the season. Nora El-Shami, Emily Hirano, Stephanie Gratto, Sydnie Van Curen, and former Eagle Courtney Collins each recorded one goal.

Samford's overall record is 6-2 this season, putting wins against Tennessee, Auburn, UTSA, Vanderbilt, Kennesaw State, and Georgia State in the books. Losses include Memphis and Texas.

Chattanooga enters SoCon play 4-3. They prevailed versus Tennessee Temple, UNC Asheville, South Carolina State, and Tennessee Tech, and suffered losses to Austin Peay, Alabama State, and Garner-Webb. The Mocs take on Davidson Friday night on their home field to open up their SoCon competition.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics, and its new "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS.