Box Score Greenville, S.C. – Freshman Nieva Gaither and junior Isabella Gutierrez netted second half goals to lead first place Furman to a 2-0 victory over VMI in Southern Conference women's soccer action on Friday afternoon at Patchin Field in Lexington, Va.
 
The victory improved the Paladins to 3-0-0 overall and 3-0-0 in league play. VMI dropped to 1-2-2 overall and 0-2-1 in the SoCon.
 
After dominating play in the first half and outshooting the Keydets 11-2, Furman broke through on Gaither's first collegiate tally in the 55^th minute. Gaither, a two-time Gatorade Georgia Player of the Year as a prep standout at Parkview High School, found space in the box following a pass from sophomore Jasmine Greene and lined a shot past VMI's goalkeeper to give the Paladins a 1-0 lead at 54:10.
 
Just three minutes later, Gaither played the ball down the right flank to Greene near the end line. The 2019 SoCon Freshman of the Year played a pass back into the path of Gutierrez who slotted a shot into the lower right-hand corner at 57:11 to cap the scoring.
 
Furman posted a commanding 24-4 advantage in shot attempts and 10-1 margin in shots on target, while earning 11 corner kicks and surrendering just one to the Keydets.
 
Sophomore Nora Sampson, who entered the match in goal to begin the second half, stopped the only shot she faced to earn the victory for the Paladins. Goalkeeper Sidney Swoope totaled eight saves for VMI in a losing effort.

The Paladins take on league rival UNCG in Greensboro, N.C., on Sunday at 2 p.m. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+ with live statistics available through StatBroadcast. Links for the live video stream and live stats can be found at FurmanPaladins.com.