Chattanooga, Tenn. -- Sophomore Abby DeMare netted a 64th minute header and senior goalkeeper Maggie Grisell notched five saves to pace the Furman Paladins to a 1-0 shutout of Chattanooga in Southern Conference women's soccer action on Sunday afternoon in Chattanooga, Tenn.

The win improved the Paladins to 8-4-0 overall and 1-1 in SoCon play, while Chattanooga slipped to 2-7-2 overall and 0-1-1 in the league.

With the match scoreless in the 64th minute, Stephanie DeVita received a throw-in, touched the ball around her defender and unleashed a bending shot that Chattanooga goalkeeper Molli Miller leaped to her right to knock clear.  She deflected the shot towards the left side of the box where DeMare headed into an empty net at the 63:46 mark for her first goal of the season.

"We've struggled on Sunday afternoons this season so it was good to see us able to grind out a victory," said Paladin head coach Andrew Burr. "Chattanooga is a much improved team and we are always happy to win on the road in SoCon play."

Chattanooga created several chances in the final third of the match, but Grisell stopped two shots down the stretch to record her third shutout of the season and help Furman to its first SoCon victory of the season.

Furman controlled most of the possession in the first half only to see the Mocs post a 7-5 shots edge in a scoreless first 45 minutes.  The Paladins turned up the pressure in the second half by outshooting the home side 13-7 to finish with an 18-14 edge in total shots and 9-5 advantage in shots on goal.

The Paladins return to the friendly confines of Stone Soccer Stadium next weekend when they host UNCG on Friday night and VMI on Sunday afternoon.  Both matches will be streamed live on the SoCon Digital Network and tickets for both contests are available at FurmanPaladins.com.

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



Jordan Caskey, Furman Sports Information