Birmingham, Ala. -- Hallie Georgi scored in the seventh minute and Taylor Borman added a second half goal as Samford blanked Furman, 2-0, in the Southern Conference women's soccer opener for both schools on Friday evening in Birmingham, Ala.

With the victory, Samford snapped a three-game skid against the Paladins, improved to 6-4-0 overall and 1-0-0 in the league.  Furman dropped its second straight match to fall to 7-4-0 overall and 0-1 in SoCon play.

Georgi took a cross from Jermaine Seoposenwe and punched a shot past Paladin goalkeeper Maggie Grisell into the left-hand corner just 6:43 into the match to give the Bulldogs an early lead.  Samford maintained the pressure throughout the opening period and built an 11-2 shots edge in the first half, while holding the Paladins without a shot on goal.

In the 59th minute, Sara Smeltzer rolled a pass into the path of Borman who rocketed a 25-yard, one-timer into the net to double the Samford lead at 58:09.

Furman's Carlie Couch totaled four shots on goal, but Samford netminder Anna Maddox recorded three saves to keep the Paladins off of the board and Couch's final shot in the final 10 minutes was cleared off the line as Samford held on for the shutout.

The Bulldogs finished with a 16-9 edge in shots, while each team registered four shots on goal.  Grisell made two saves for the Paladins in a losing effort.

Furman returns to action on Sunday at 2 p.m. when it faces the Chattanooga Mocs in Chattanooga, Tenn.  The match is scheduled to be streamed live on the SoCon Digital Network.  Links for the stream and live statistics will be posted at FurmanPaladins.com.

Fans can follow in-game updates of the match by following @FurmanWSoccer on Twitter.



Jordan Caskey, Furman Sports Information