Greenville, S.C. – Chattanooga took the lead in the opening eight minutes of the match and held on to down Furman, 1-0, in Southern Conference women's soccer action Thursday evening on Seagraves Field at Stone Soccer Stadium.
 
The loss halted Furman's nine-match unbeaten streak and dropped the Paladins to 7-5-3 overall and 3-1-2 in SoCon play. It marked just the second conference loss for Furman in the last two seasons and the first SoCon defeat at home since October 21, 2022. Chattanooga, who scored its first victory over the Paladins, improved to 5-8-3 overall and 4-4 in the conference.
 
The Mocs netted the lone goal of the match at the 7:14 mark when Zoey Mize played a curling ball from the left wing that bounced between the goalkeeper and a defender before deflecting off the inside of the right post before crossing the goal line.
 
"Credit to Chattanooga tonight for an excellent performance," said Paladin head coach Andrew Burr. "We gave up the early goal and were forced to chase the match for most of the night. Val and Tara created chances in the first half and Nieva had a good luck in the second half, but we just couldn't get the goal we needed to shift the momentum."
 
Furman's Valentina Mosquera headed a shot wide in the opening moments and Tara Katz nearly equalized 30 seconds after Chattanooga's goal, but goalkeeper Carolina Ekern stopped the graduate student's shot from close range. Nieva Gaither got free down the left side just five minutes into the second half only to see her shot across the face of goal go inches wide of the right post.
 
Ekern recorded one save to earn the shutout for the Mocs while Furman's Reese DeJong notched five saves. Chattanooga finished with an 11-9 edge in total shots and 6-1 advantage in chances on goal. The Mocs compiled eight corner kicks to just two for the Paladins.
 
Furman continues its homestand on Sunday when it hosts Wofford for a 2 p.m. kickoff at Stone Stadium.