Cullowhee, N.C. – Senior
Addison Corn recorded two saves in a penalty kick shootout to help No. 4 seed Furman advance past No. 5 seed UNC Greensboro, 3-1, following a 2-2 draw in the quarterfinal round of the Southern Conference Women's Soccer Championship on Friday afternoon at the Catamount Soccer Complex in Cullowhee, N.C.
After each team failed to convert in the opening round of the penalty shootout,
Helen Gutierrez scored from the spot and UNCG's No. 19 missed high to give the Paladins a 1-0 lead after two rounds. Furman's
Valentina Mosquera and UNCG's Dalani Stephens each made their spot kicks in round three before UNCG's Emma Malone stopped
Ashlyn Goila's fourth round attempt and the Paladins'
Addison Corn made a diving stop on Natalie McCullough's spot kick. With Furman up 2-1 after four rounds,
Shania Diaz fired her shot into the right-side netting to send the Paladins into the semifinal round.
Furman, 7-4-7 on the season, advances to face tonight's Western Carolina-Wofford winner in Sunday's 1 p.m. semifinal at the Catamount Soccer Complex. UNCG concludes its season at 7-9-3.
"
Addison Corn made two incredible save in PKs and our veterans really stepped up for us in the shootout," said Paladin head coach
Andrew Burr. "We've had some freshmen really grow for us as well this season and
Maddie Massie and
Ava King, especially, stepped up big time today after being left off the SoCon All-Freshman Team. I'm very proud of our effort as a team today."
Furman looked like it would make short work in avenging its regular season loss to the Spartans when it netted a pair of first-half goals. In the 24
th minute, Massie took a pass from
Ashlyn Goila and cut inside of her defender before placing a shot in the right-hand corner to give the Paladins a 1-0 lead at the 23:39 mark. Goila doubled the margin with some help from Massie in the 41
st minute. Massie picked out the midfielder in the middle of the box and Goila lined her shot inside the left post to double the lead at 40:04.
UNCG went on the attack in the second half and cut the Paladin advantage to one goal in the 55
th minute. Taylor Mentzer raced into the box after a Furman defender slipped and she hammered her shot from the right side of the box into the left-hand corner to get the Spartans on the board. In the 76
th minute, Hayden Erck took a free kick from close range on the right wing. Mentzer redirected the shot on the nearside of the six-yard box and the ball found the left-hand corner to even the match at 2-2 with 14:16 left in regulation.
The goalkeepers came up big in the waning moments of regulation as Abby Buchholz denied
Jenny Jacobson on a one-versus-one after Massie played her fellow freshman into the box and Corn leaped to tap a Spartan shot off the crossbar in the final minutes.
Each team posted eight total shots while the Paladins managed a 7-4 edge in shots on goal. Corn notched two saves to help Furman. Malone recorded three saves and Buchholz posted two for UNCG.
2023 Women's Soccer Championship
Tuesday, Oct. 24
First Round (at higher seeds)
Match 1: No. 8 Wofford 2, No. 9 VMI 1
Match 2: No. 7 Mercer 1, No 10 The Citadel 0
Friday, Oct. 27
Quarterfinals (at No. 1 & No. 2 seeds)
Match 3: No. 4 Furman 2, No. 5 UNCG 2, Paladins advance on PKs, 3-2 (Cullowhee, North Carolina)
Match 4: No. 8 Wofford at No. 1 Western Carolina, 7 p.m. (Cullowhee, North Carolina)
Match 5: No. 2 ETSU 1, No. 7 Mercer 0 (Johnson City, Tennessee)
Match 6: No. 3 Samford vs. No. 6 Chattanooga, 7 p.m. (Johnson City, Tennessee)
Sunday, Oct. 29
Semifinals (at No. 1 & No. 2 seeds)
Match 7: No. 4 Furman vs. Winner Match 4, 1 p.m. (Cullowhee, North Carolina)
Match 8: Winner Match 5 at No. 2 ETSU, 2 p.m. (Johnson City, Tennessee)
Saturday, Nov. 4, or Sunday, Nov. 5
Final (Highest remaining seed, location TBD)
Match 9: Winner Match 7 vs. Winner Match 8, TBD
*all times Eastern unless otherwise noted
