Charleston, S.C. -- Junior Carlie Couch netted her first career hat trick as Furman erased a 1-0 deficit en route to a 4-1 victory over The Citadel in Southern Conference women's soccer action on Friday afternoon at Washington Light Infantry Field in Charleston, S.C.

With its fifth consecutive win, Furman improved to 13-4-1 overall and 6-1-1 in SoCon play entering Sunday's regular season finale at Mercer.  The Citadel dropped to 1-17-0 overall and 0-8-0 in the SoCon.

Emilie Valenciano put the Bulldogs in front in the 20th minute when she floated a shot from the right side of the box into the far left side netting for her first goal of the season.  Furman answered at 30:01 as Couch exploded by several defenders down the left flank and slotted a low shot to the right-hand corner to knot the match at 1-1.

The Paladins took the lead at 63:56 when Amani Bright fed Jamie Alexander and the senior fired in her fourth goal of the season to stake Furman to a 2-1 advantage.  Less than two minutes later, Couch rounded the defense again and punched a shot past Citadel goalkeeper Kim Mora to up the margin to 3-1 at the 65:53 mark.

Couch capped the second half scoring outburst with her third goal of the afternoon and sixth of the season at the 76:53 mark.  The Tifton, Ga., product collected the ball on the right side of the box and fired a shot that deflected off of Mora's hands and into the side netting at the near post to provide the final 4-1 scoreline.  The hat trick was the first for a Paladin since Stephanie DeVita bagged three goals at VMI on October 26, 2014, and just the third by a Paladin since 2010.

Furman managed a 26-2 shots advantage and outshot The Citadel 12-0 in the second half.  The Paladins finished with a 13-1 edge in shots on goal.

Senior Maggie Grisell earned the victory in goal for Furman to up her record to 12-2-1.

Follow @FurmanWSoccer on Twitter for in-game updates on every Furman women's soccer match. Sunday's regular season finale will also be available on the SoCon Digital Network. Links to the video feed and live statistics can be found at FurmanPaladins.com.


Jordan Caskey, Furman Sports Information