Macon, Ga. – Fifth-year senior Nieva Gaither tallied her first goal of the season and Addison Corn and Reese DeJong each came up with crucial saves as the Furman women's soccer team earned a 1-1 draw in its Southern Conference opener Thursday night versus Mercer at Betts Stadium in Macon, Ga.
 
The Paladins moved to 4-4-2 overall and 0-0-1 in the league while extending their unbeaten run to five matches. The tie left Mercer at 6-2-2 overall and 0-0-1 in the SoCon.
 
Gaither gave the Paladins the lead in the 14^th minute. After gathering the ball in the midfield, the Lilburn, Ga., product dribbled more than 20 yards before unleashing a left-footed strike into the left side of the net from the top of the box to register her first score since August 24, 2023.
 
Mercer turned up the pressure in the second half and finally leveled the match at the 69:01 mark on a goal by Hayden Lepley. The Bears earned a free kick about 30 yards from goal and Chandler Lewis-Jenkins curled her set piece inside the six-yard box for Lepley to direct past DeJong to even the score.
 
A similar cross nearly gave the Bears the lead moments later and with under three minutes left in the match DeJong was forced to make a diving save to her right to deny Mercer's Sara Engels on a chance from inside six yards. The Paladins mounted a counter-attack seconds later and Tara Katz cut inside her defender on the right side of the box, but her shot flashed wide of the right post with just over two minutes to play.
 
Mercer managed the last chance of the night as Jada Moorman appeared to have broken the deadlock with less than a minute to go but was whistled for a handball. 
 
"Once you get into league play, every team is competitive and the games are so tight," said Paladin head coach Andrew Burr. "Nieva scored an outstanding goal in the first half and our defense did a solid job of withstanding a lot of pressure. We look forward to being back at Stone Stadium for our home conference opener on Sunday."
 
Lindsay Bell finished with six saves on the night for the Bears while Corn stopped four first-half shots for Furman and DeJong notched two saves in the second half. Mercer compiled a 19-18 edge in total shots with both teams totaling seven shots on target.
 
Furman is back at home on Sunday afternoon to take on the VMI Keydets. Kickoff at Stone Soccer Stadium is set for 2 p.m. and admission is free.