Greenville, S.C. – Hayden Barnett and
Alyssa England scored goals and
Reese DeJong stopped a UNC Greensboro penalty kick in the second half as Furman topped the Spartans, 2-1, in Southern Conference women's soccer Thursday night on Seagraves Field at Stone Stadium.
With the victory, Furman improved to 9-3-3 overall and 4-0-1 in SoCon play. UNCG dropped to 7-5-2 overall and 3-2-1 in the league.
Tied at 1-1 in the 39
th minute,
Ellie Herrmann lofted a cross towards the top of the six-yard box where England slipped past her defender to nod her shot into the right side of the net at 38:13 to break the tie with the eventual match-winning tally. The goal marked her second in the last two matches.
Furman continued to cling to its 2-1 advantage in the 76
th minute when the Paladin defense blocked consecutive UNCG shots in the box. The Spartans challenged that one of the shots glanced off the arm of a Furman defender and the Spartans were awarded a spot kick with 14:03 remaining. Merle Greulich drove her penalty kick towards the left corner, but DeJong made a diving save to push the shot over the line for a corner kick and preserve the Paladin lead. She stopped another shot on the ensuing corner to keep the Paladins in front.
"Tonight was our Pink Game and Breast Cancer Awareness Night, and we were honored to have so many cancer survivors with us at Stone Stadium," said Paladin head coach
Andrew Burr. "This is such a special game for us every year. I'm very proud of the way our team fought tonight. We were able to finish a couple of nice goals and Reese came up with the big play late in the game to get us three points."
Furman took the lead just 5:26 into the match when
Norah Roller split two defenders at the edge of the box and slid a pass to Barnett inside the penalty spot. The midfielder lined a shot that deflected off a UNCG defender before ending up in the back of the net. The Spartans equalized at 14:22 when Nicole Hutchinson sent a cross inside the six-yard box for Greulich to head in from close range.
The Paladins finished with an 11-9 margin in total shots and 4-3 edge in shots on goal. DeJong and UNCG goalkeeper Blythe Clark, who was sent off when she took down
Jaleah Simmons on a breakaway with 23 seconds left, both posted two saves on the night.
Furman is back in action at home on Sunday at 2 p.m. when it hosts the Chattanooga Mocs at Stone Stadium. Admission is free and the match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
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