Greenville, S.C. -- Freshmen Ali Simpson and senior Rachel Shelnutt each delivered a long range strike in the final half hour as Furman rallied from a 1-0 deficit to down The Citadel 2-1 in Southern Conference women's soccer action on Sunday afternoon at Stone Stadium.

The Senior Day victory over The Citadel (4-11-3, 2-6-2) improved the Paladins to 10-7-2 overall and 5-3-2 in SoCon play.  Furman enters Wednesday's regular season finale against Wofford in fifth place, just one point behind fourth place Davidson.  The top four teams in the final regular season standings receive home matches in the opening round of the SoCon Tournament next weekend.

For the second time in as many matches this weekend, Furman found itself facing a first half deficit when Hannah Ware's cross drew Paladin keeper Jessica Smith off of her line and Jaslene Thiara tapped a loose ball into the back of the net from close range at the 22:10 mark.

Furman had failed to create many scoring opportunities in more than an hour of action, but Simpson leveled the match against the run of play at 69:39 with a driven strike into the upper-left corner from 30 yards out.  The screaming strike came on India Robinson's seventh assist of the season and marked Simpson's fourth goal of the campaign.

The equalizer brought the Paladin attack to life and Shelnutt pushed Furman in front less than nine minutes later with her team-leading 11th goal of the season.  Shelnutt played the ball towards the top of the box and unleashed a 21-yard, left-footed strike over the outstretched hands of Citadel keeper Whitney Nave at 78:18 to give Furman a 2-1 advantage.  The goal, Shelnutt's 22nd career tally, represented her ninth career match-winning score.

"We were certainly not at our best today, but we didn't quit and were able to pull out a win in the end against a solid Citadel squad," said Furman head coach Andrew Burr.  "Ali Simpson and Rachel Shelnutt scored two outstanding goals and Jessica Smith came up with a tremendous stop late to help us hold on.  It's always great to get a win on Senior Day."

The Citadel pushed everyone forward in the final minutes and Smith was forced to make several saves, including a diving stop of Nicole Levermann's strike with just minutes remaining.  Smith totaled eight saves for the match while Nave stopped three shots for the Bulldogs.

Furman was outshot by a 16-12 margin and The Citadel earned four corner kicks while surrendering just one.

The Paladins cap their regular season by hosting Wofford on Wednesday at 7 p.m.  Admission to Wednesday's match is $3 for adults and $1 for children.  Furman students receive free admission with a valid Student ID.  

Follow www.FurmanPaladins.com and www.Twitter.com/FurmanPaladins for updates on Furman Women's Soccer throughout the 2011 season.