BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Jacksonville State soccer team closed out the road portion of the non-conference schedule on Sunday with a 4-0 loss to Samford at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.

The Gamecocks (4-4) wrapped up the rivalry weekend with a pair of setbacks after falling 2-1 on Thursday night at Troy. JSU will have one final non-conference tune up on Thursday, hosting former Ohio Valley Conference foe Belmont. Opening kick off is set for 7 p.m. at the JSU Soccer Field. Admission is free to all home JSU soccer matches. Samford improved to 3-2-2 on the season.

The Bulldogs proved why they are one of the top programs in the state with two goals in each 45-minute session and limited the Gamecocks to a pair of early shots in the opening minutes of the contest. Samford finished with 17 total shots en route to the winning result.

"I thought we battled hard against an excellent side. They (Samford) are a very aggressive team and they were a step forward today. It was a good learning experience for us today. I give a lot of credit to our backline and the midfield, who put in a tremendous amount of work," said head coach Neil Macdonald.

Samford scored the first of two first half goals in the seventh minute after Zoe Perrin toed a shot in the back of the net. The Bulldogs extended the lead in the 30th minute with a goal by Layla Brown. The Bulldogs finished with 10 of the their 17 shots in the first half.

With 2-0 lead, it didn't take Samford long to take command of the match in the second half as Audrey Kleiman delivered the third goal by the Bulldogs in the 52nd minute. SU's Grace Crawford rounded out the scoring with a goal in the 84th minute.

Sophomore Briana Eads and junior Cynthia Bagozzi had one shot each for the Gamecocks.

"I think they (Samford) are a great program and they have already beaten two SEC schools this year. This will be a learning experience and we talked at halftime about the things we can learn from them to make ourselves better as a program," added Macdonald.

Following the Belmont match on Thursday, the Gamecocks will enter ASUN action with a pair of road outings at Liberty and Kennesaw State on September 23 and 26 respectively.

"I think we have proven ourselves to be a decent team going forward and when you go against quality competition like today, it takes a lot of discipline and team work to stay in the game. There are going to be moments in the ASUN when we need that and we just need to continue to work towards attacking as 11 and defending as 11," continued Macdonald.

Thursday's match with the Bruins will also be streamed on ESPN+.