September 6, 1997
GREENVILLE, South Carolina -- Furman's Lady Paladin soccer team defeated Elon 2-1 in sudden death overtime Saturday night at Eugene Stone Stadium in the final game of the 1997 Umbro Kickoff Classic. With the victory the Lady Paladins improved to 3-1-1 on the season.
Junior Leah Versteegen scored off a Melissa Sutton assist at the 91:34 mark, less than two minutes into a sudden-death overtime period. The Paladins had taken an early lead on a Liz Bielefeld shot from 25-yards out, but ElonÕs Stephanie Sorrells scored on a dish from Emily Matesic at 87:49 to put Furman in its second overtime game of the season.
"This was a good, close game," Furman head coach Brian Lee said. "We showed good character in overtime, which was encouraging. Jen McNutt played great again today."
In Saturday's early match North Carolina State won the Kickoff Classic Title with a 3-1 victory over Charleston Southern. State dominated the middle in both of the weekend's victories and saw three Wolfpack midfielders and one defender named to the All-Tournament team. N.C. State's Megan Jeidy, who scored Saturday's first goal on a penalty kick just 21 minutes into the game, was named tournament Most Valuable Player. Other N.C. State players to earn all tournament were Shannon Blair (defender, 1 goal), Jessica Celi (midifelder), Jane Walton (midfielder, 1 goal, 1 assist), and Lisa Boggs (midfielder). Charleston Southern's Alisha Rogers (forward, 1 goal, 1 assist) and Jo-An Jileson (midfielder) earned all-tournament for the Lady Bucs.
Furman and Elon combined to place five players on the all-tournament team. Furman junior Leah Versteegen (midfielder 1 goal) joined freshman Diana Poore (defender) and Nicole Malseed (midfielder) while Emily Matestic (midfielder, 1 goal, 1 assist) earned all tournament for the Fighting Christians of Elon.
Scoring:
Shots on Goal: Furman -- 12; Elon -- 11.
Corner Kicks: Furman -- 9; Elon -- 2.
Saves: Furman -- 7; Elon -- 3.
Fouls: Furman -- 19; Elon -- 10.