Greenville, S.C. -- Senior Stephanie DeVita netted a pair of goals to shatter the Southern Conference's career goals record and lead Furman to a 3-0 victory over Wofford in women's soccer action Friday night on Seagraves Field at Stone Soccer Stadium.

The midfielder from Simpsonville, S.C., and Hillcrest High School opened the scoring in the fourth minute by heading in Kristen Baker's cross, and she doubled the lead with her 10th goal of the season in the 74th minute on a tap-in after her initial shot was saved by Wofford's Mayson Liner. With 60 career goals, DeVita surpassed the previous SoCon career record of 59 set by Georgia Southern's Tara Chaisson in 1999.

"Stephanie has had an outstanding career and has a knack for scoring the clutch goal," said Furman head coach Andrew Burr of the school's all-time leader in match-winning scores (26). "Tonight we had a great offensive effort as a team and created a lot of chances. It was a great team win."

At the 3:55 mark, Baker collected a clearance by the Wofford defense on the left wing and served the ball towards the six-yard box on the far side of goal.  DeVita rose above her defender to head a shot off the underside of the cross bar and over the goal line for her ninth score of the year.

After Wofford turned up the pressure late in the first half, Furman finally added to its lead midway through the second period.  Rachel Shah struck an accurate through ball down the middle to put DeVita behind the defense.  The senior fired a shot that was deflected by a sliding Liner, but DeVita collected the rebounded and finished into an open net to set the league goals scored record.

Furman (9-4-1, 2-1-1 SoCon) added a dramatic final goal to the tally with 9:50 remaining in regulation when Jamie Alexander won the battle for a long ball in the attacking half and launched a 41-yard shot over the head of the Wofford keeper and into the right-hand corner for her third goal of the season.

The Paladins outshot the Terriers 17-13, including a 9-2 advantage in shots on goal.

Senior Maggie Grisell notched two saves for Furman to record her fifth shutout of the season and improve to 8-2-1 in net.  Liner registered six saves in the loss.

Furman will play a neutral site contest on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. when it faces the VMI Keydets at the OrthoCarolina Sportsplex in Pineville, N.C.  The game was originally scheduled to be played last Sunday in Greenville, but was postponed by heavy rains.

Live stats for Tuesday's match will be available through StatBroadcast at FurmanPaladins.com.

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


Jordan Caskey, Furman Sports Information