Greenville, S.C. – Redshirt-sophomore
Kyndal Anderson scored in the 88
th minute to break a scoreless tie and propel No. 2 seed Furman past No. 3 seed Chattanooga, 1-0, in the Southern Conference Women's Soccer Championship semifinal on Sunday afternoon at Stone Soccer Stadium.
With the victory, Furman (7-0-2) punched its ticket to the SoCon Championship Match and will face top-seed Samford (8-1-3) in the finals at 3 p.m. ET on Friday, April 16, at the Samford University Track & Soccer Complex in Birmingham, Ala.
"What a great game and what a great performance today," said Paladin head coach
Andrew Burr, the winningest coach in SoCon history. "Chattanooga is an outstanding team and Coach McKinney and his staff have done such a wonderful job with that program. It was great battle today and we just feel fortunate to come out on top. Our ladies fought for a full 90 minutes and Bella, Nieva and Kyndal combined on a beautiful goal."
After over 87 minutes of scoreless soccer, SoCon Freshman of the Year
Nieva Gaither played a pass from near the top of the box into the path of SoCon Player of the Year
Isabella Gutierrez, who was racing down the left wing. The junior sent a left-footed cross over the head of Chattanooga's goalkeeper to Anderson, who poked her shot into the top-netting of an empty net at the 87:27 mark for the eventual winning score.
Chattanooga (7-3-1) scrambled to find the equalizer in the final two minutes, and Chloe Arnold nearly provided the answer as her shot from the right side of the box banged off of the right post with 1:11 to play.
Furman posted an 11-10 edge in total shots and 4-3 advantage in shots on target. Freshman
Addison Corn made one save in 45 minutes in net before sophomore
Nora Sampson stopped two shots over the final 45 minutes to earn the victory. Ashton Shields notched three stops in a losing effort for the Mocs.
The Paladins, who have claimed six SoCon Tournament titles, will be making their third straight appearance in the championship match and 16
th overall. Furman is looking to capture its first championship since 2015 and secure its eighth trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Samford and Furman played to a 1-1 draw in their regular season meeting at Stone Stadium on March 21. Friday's match will mark the 11
th straight season that either the Paladins or Bulldogs have appeared in the finals. In 2019, Samford edged Furman, 1-0, in the final in Greensboro, N.C.
