Greenville, S.C. – USC Upstate netted two goals in the opening 46 minutes and held off a late rally to down Furman, 2-1, in non-conference women's soccer Thursday evening before a crowd of 888 at Stone Stadium.
 
Trailing 2-0 with under three minutes to play, Furman's Nieva Gaither dashed through the midfield and laced a shot into the right side of the net at the 87:47 mark to halve the USC Upstate lead. The Spartans, however, thwarted Furman's last-ditch effort to find an equalizer to secure the one-goal decision.
 
Upstate (2-2-2) took the lead less than 20 minutes into the match on Margret Edda Bjarnadottir's first goal of the season. After the Paladins were whistled for a foul almost 25 yards directly in front of goal, Bjarnadottir lined her free kick into the right-hand corner at the 19:27 mark.
 
Furman (3-4-0) threatened several times in the opening half, but Valentina Mosquera was unable to turn a volley on frame on a couple of long crosses to the back post.
 
The Spartans doubled their lead just 29 seconds into the second half on Dara Russo's second tally of the campaign. Morgan de Barros slid a centering pass to Russo near the penalty spot and the forward cracked a right-footed strike past Furman's Addison Corn.
 
The Paladins managed a 16-13 edge in total shots and a 7-4 advantage in shots on goal. Corn posted two saves in the loss while Cora Brendle turned away five shots for Upstate.
 
Furman travels to Orangeburg, S.C., on Sunday to face the South Carolina State Bulldogs at 1 p.m.