Greenville, S.C. – Southern Conference Player of the Year Nieva Gaither's golden goal in the 92^nd minute lifted the second-seeded Furman Paladins to a 2-1 overtime victory over No. 7 The Citadel Bulldogs in the quarterfinals of the SoCon Women's Soccer Championship, Friday evening at Stone Stadium.

Furman improves to 11-5-1 overall and The Citadel's season ends at 10-7-2.

Gaither and second team All-SoCon Kyndal Anderson both scored to lead the Paladins while first team All-SoCon Isabella Gutierrez contributed one assist. In goal, Addison Corn registered four saves to earn the win.

Jordyn Geller scored the lone goal for the Bulldogs and Ryleigh Jenkins dished out one assist. Goalkeeper Jess Newton finished with 11 saves.

The teams battled to a scoreless draw at halftime before Anderson put Furman on the board in the 62^nd minute with her team-leading 11^th goal of the season off Gutierrez's assist. Gutierrez took the initial corner kick far side and the ball was deflected back to her along the touchline. She regained possession and laid another cross back inside the six-yard box where Anderson was wide open and scored on the header.

Geller equalized for The Citadel in the 70^th minute, making the score 1-1. Jenkins intercepted the ball from the Paladins at midfield and made a long pass to Geller who then beat a Furman defender. Her attempt from 20 yards away sailed past Corn inside the right post.

Gaither wasted little time scoring the game-winner, and netting her ninth goal of the year, in the 92^nd minute and securing the 2-1 victory for the Paladins. Furman had possession of the ball on its side of the field before second team All-SoCon Miya Poplin made a pass to Gaither at midfield. Gaither dribbled all the way inside the 18-yard box after running by three Bulldog defenders and scored the game-winning goal left side from eight yards out.

The Paladins held a 22-11 advantage in shots and 13-5 in attempts on goal. Furman also led 10-1 in corner kicks.

Gaither led the Paladins with six shots and four attempts on goal along with first team All-SoCon Jasmine Greene. Three different players for The Citadel tallied three shots while Leanne Bryant had a team-high three attempts on net.

Furman advances to the semifinals of the SoCon Women's Soccer Championship and will play No. 3 Western Carolina on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. from Stone Stadium.