North Charleston, S.C. – Three different Paladins found the back of the net and the Furman defense recorded its fourth consecutive clean sheet in a 3-0 victory over Charleston Southern Sunday afternoon at CSU Soccer Field.
Senior captain
Maddie Massie opened the scoring less than three minutes into the match with her third goal of the season.
Ellie Herrmann lofted a pass over the CSU defense and Massie, with her first touch, chipped a shot over the goalkeeper from the top of the box that bounced into the center of the net at 2:54.
Furman (5-2-0) upped its lead to 2-0 in the 56
th minute.
Riley O'Bryan collected the ball in the middle of the field and slid a pass to Massie down the right wing. The Birmingham, Ala., native crossed the ball through the box to fellow Birmingham native
Norah Roller who headed a shot past goalkeeper Avery Mason at 55:16 for the insurance goal.
O'Bryan capped the scoring and netted her fifth goal of the season at the 86:03 mark. Roller, at the top edge of the box, centered a pass to an on-rushing O'Bryan. The forward took a touch to elude a defender and fired a shot past Mason for the final 3-0 margin.
"As always, it's great to get a win and a shutout," said Paladin head coach
Andrew Burr. "We started well in both halves today, getting early goals. I though we struggled to string passes together for much of the first half, but got better as the game went on. This was a brutally hot day, and our depth played a big role for us. We played 24 players, and everyone helped contribute to the win."
Massie, Roller, and O'Bryan each tallied a goal and an assist on the day while freshman Katie Villager added an assist. Goalkeeper
Reese DeJong recorded four saves to lead the Paladins to their fifth win in the last six matches and fifth shutout in the last six outings.
The Paladins posted an 11-10 edge in total shots and 6-4 advantage in shots on goal. Mason finished with three saves for CSU, who dropped to 1-4-0 on the season.
Furman returns home on Thursday to host USC Upstate at 7 p.m. on Seagraves Field at Stone Soccer Stadium.
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