Andrew Burr's Postgame Comments

Dee Makris' Postgame Comments

Greenville, S.C. – Senior Dee Makris scored on a header in the 67th minute to put Furman in front as the Paladins topped Samford, 2-1, in a battle of the preseason favorites in Southern Conference women's soccer on Sunday afternoon on Seagraves Field at Stone Stadium.

The victory stretched Furman's unbeaten streak to nine matches as the Paladins improved to 9-2-1 on the season and 3-0 in league play.  Samford dropped to 8-3-1 overall and 2-1-1 in the conference.

After a scoreless first half, in which there were few clear cut chances at goal for either side, Furman opened the scoring through freshman Carlie Couch just 61 second into the second period.  Stephanie DeVita received a pass from India Robinson in front of the Furman bench and sent a long ball over the top of the Samford defense towards the top right corner of the box.  Couch ran onto the pass, held off her defender and lashed a shot off of the left post to beat Bulldog goalkeeper Melissa Montgomery for her fourth goal of the season.

Samford wasted little time in matching the Paladins.  Malcanisha Kelley dribbled the ball into the right side of the 18-yard box, cut back to the middle of the field to beat two defenders and hammered a shot inside the far post at 50:15 to knot the game at 1-1.

With under 24 minutes remaining in regulation, Hannah Stanifer received the ball in space and tested Montgomery with a long range shot towards the left post that the Bulldog goalkeeper pushed wide for a corner kick.  Following the set piece, Kristen Baker played a left footed cross in front of the face of goal to DeVita at the right post.  The sophomore headed the ball back across the face of goal to Makris, a Birmingham, Ala., native, who headed the bouncing pass into the net from less than three yards out at 66:41.

The goal was the third of the year for Makris and second assist of the afternoon for Devita.

Samford was unable to create many chances in the final moments of the match.  The Bulldogs best chances came in the final 15 seconds as Hallie Georgi's cross was met by Amanda Abbott at the top of the six-yard box, but her shot flew over the post.

Rose Hull claimed three saves in goal to pick up the win for the Paladins and improve to 5-1-0 between the pipes.  Montgomery stopped three shots in a losing effort for Samford.

The Bulldogs posted an 11-10 edge in shots while Furman managed a 5-4 edge in shots on goal.

Furman's win marked its first in seven tries against the Bulldogs and improved the Paladins to 5-0 at home this season.  The Paladins also improved to 16-1-1 in their last 18 matches on Seagraves Field.

UNCG hosts the Paladins on Friday evening before Furman travels to Elon next Sunday.

Fans can follow live statistics for both matches at www.FurmanPaladins.com and receive live in-game updates by following @FurmanWSoccer on Twitter.