Greenville, S.C. -- Junior Carlie Couch netted a pair of first half goals and senior Stephanie DeVita added a goal and two assists as Furman climbed to second place in the Southern Conference women's soccer standings with a 3-0 victory over ETSU on Friday night at Stone Soccer Stadium.

The victory, Furman's third straight win and fourth during its five-match unbeaten run, improved the Paladins to 11-4-1 overall and 4-1-1 in the SoCon.  ETSU slipped to 9-5-1 overall and 4-1-1 in the league.

"We talk each week about staying mentally and physically sharp for 90 minutes and I thought we finally did that tonight," said Furman head coach Andrew Burr. "We created several great chances early and had some of our best finishing of the season.  Also, Maggie Grisell had one of her best games in goal with some great saves down the stretch."

Less than eight minutes into the match, DeVita split the ETSU defense with a pass down the middle of the field to Molly Dwyer at the top of the box.  The sophomore back-healed a pass to a charging Couch who slotted her shot into the left-hand corner from near the penalty spot to put the Paladins ahead 1-0 at the 7:48 mark.

Just over five minutes later, DeVita found space out wide on the right side and curled a cross into the six-yard box that Couch rose above the defense to head home for her third goal of the season and a 2-0 Furman lead at 12:50.

ETSU began to dominate the opportunities in the second half and compiled an 18-6 edge in shot attempts over the final 45 minutes.  Furman, however, made the most of its few second half chances as DeVita collected the ball on the left wing in the 70th minute and slipped by two defenders before lacing a shot that dipped below the bar and over the outstretched hands of ETSU goalkeeper Jasmine Elliott for her SoCon-best 61st career goal.

Grisell put the finishing touches on the victory by stopping eight shots, including seven in the second half.  Her leaping effort to push a shot off of the cross bar in the final minutes helped her preserve her fifth consecutive shutout and seventh of the season.  Meanwhile, the Indialantic, Fla., native ran her shutout streak to over 501 minutes.

The Bucs finished with a 23-11 shots advantage and an 8-6 lead in shots on goal.  Elliott recorded three saves in the loss for ETSU.

Furman concludes the 2015 regular season home schedule on Sunday at 2 p.m. when it hosts the Western Carolina Catamounts for Senior Day.  The Paladins will honor their eight seniors in a ceremony prior to kickoff.

Tickets for the match are available online at FurmanPaladins.com or at the Stone Stadium entrance beginning one hour prior to kickoff.  The match will be streamed live on the SoCon Digital Network with live statistics provided by StatBroadcast.  Links for both can be found at FurmanPaladins.com.

Follow @FurmanWSoccer on Twitter for in-game updates on every Furman women's soccer match.


Jordan Caskey, Furman Sports Information