Greensboro, N.C. – Junior Isabella Gutierrez netted the match-winning goal off of a set piece in the 71^st minute to lead first place Furman to a 1-0 victory over UNC Greensboro in Southern Conference women's soccer action Sunday afternoon at UNCG Soccer Stadium in Greensboro, N.C.
 
With the victory, Furman improved to 4-0-0 on the season and maintained its hold on first place in the SoCon standings. UNCG dropped to 1-3-2 overall and 1-2-1 in league play.
 
"We've gotten off to a 4-0 start and we'll take it," said Paladin head coach Andrew Burr. "Both of our goalkeepers and our back four played well. We place a big importance on getting shutouts and today we executed that plan."
 
With the match scoreless and 20 minutes remaining in regulation, Furman played a ball down the left side and Kyndal Anderson won a corner kick for the Paladins. Senior Ellie Laxer served the set piece to an unmarked Gutierrez on the near post and the Statesboro, Ga., product flicked a header across the face of goal and into the far side netting at the 70:26 mark for her third goal of the season and second match-winning tally. Laxer notched her second assist of the season.
 
The Paladins defense was forced to work over the final 19 minutes. Sophomore Nora Sampson made a save in the 76^th minute as UNCG pushed forward and the Paladins weathered a trio of Spartan corner kicks in the final minutes to claim their third consecutive win over UNCG.
 
Furman outshot the Spartans 17-14 with each team totaling three shots on target. Sampson registered two saves to earn the victory, while Addison Corn stopped one shot in 45 minutes of work for the Paladins. Aiyanah Tyler-Cooper turned away four shots in goal for UNCG.
 
The Paladins, who claimed a share of the SoCon regular season title with a 7-1-1 league mark last season, has now posted a 15-1-1 record in its last 17 SoCon regular season contests.

Furman will be back on Seagraves Field at Stone Soccer Stadium next weekend when it hosts the Chattanooga Mocs on Friday night and Samford Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon in its final home games of the 2020-21 campaign. Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+ with live statistics available through StatBroadcast. Links for the live video streams and live stats can be found at FurmanPaladins.com.