Cullowhee, N.C. – Furman netted three goals in the opening 20 minutes and cruised to a 3-1 victory over Western Carolina in Southern Conference women's soccer action on Friday night at the Catamount Soccer Complex in Cullowhee, N.C.
 
With the victory, the first-place Paladins improved to 6-0-1 overall and 6-0-1 in league play. Western Carolina dropped to 3-6-0 overall and 2-4-0 in the SoCon.
 
Redshirt-sophomore Kyndal Anderson opened the scoring at the 2:20 mark with her third goal of the season. Furman broke out on a counter attack with Nieva Gaither bringing the ball through the midfield. She played a pass to Anderson on the left side and the forward fired her shot into the right corner to give the Paladins a 1-0 advantage.
 
Freshman Miya Poplin doubled the Furman lead in the ninth minute with her first collegiate goal. The Hilton Head, S.C., native took a pass from Anderson near the top of the box and lost her defender with a touch to the left before lining a left-footed shot into the lower left-hand corner at the 8:01 mark.
 
Junior Isabella Gutierrez increased the Paladins' lead to 3-0 in the 20^th minute with her team-leading fourth goal of the season. After taking a pass from Poplin, Gutierrez raced past two defenders down the left wing before slotting a shot past WCU's Melody Mezzina.
 
Regan Ward scored on a breakaway for the Catamounts with under seven minutes left in the first half, but Furman's back line weathered 13 Western Carolina shots in the second period to claim the victory. Addison Corn totaled one save for Furman, while Nora Sampson stopped four shots in the second half. Mezzina notched seven saves for the Catamounts.
 
Western Carolina finished with a 17-14 edge in total shots, but Furman held a 10-6 advantage in shots on target.
 
Furman is back in action on Sunday when it faces ETSU in Johnson City, Tenn. Kickoff at Summers-Taylor Stadium is set for 1 p.m. and the match will be streamed live on ESPN+.