Tonight's match marks the fifth meeting between Furman and College of Charleston. Furman holds a 4-0 all-time advantage over the Lady Cougars and won this season's meeting 7-0. Kathy Gaertner and Leah Versteegen each scored two goals in the match.
Lady Paladins Fight For Berth
Furman enters the 1998 Southern Conference Tournament as the second seed and can earn its first ever NCAA Tournament berth by winning the Southern Conference Tournament. The winner of today's match will face the winner of the Appalachian State-Georgia Southern match in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Saturday at Furman.
Furman To Host Semis, Finals
Furman will host the 1998 Southern Conference Women's Soccer Tournament this Saturday and Sunday. The semifinals are slated for 5 and 7 p.m. on Saturday, while the championship match will be held Sunday at 3 p.m.
Special Kaye
Furman freshman Kaye Brownlee has made her mark on the women's soccer program in a lot of ways as a freshman. Along with starting 17 matches and scoring seven goals, Brownlee has recorded a school record 16 assists. She is currently #2 in the nation in assists per match. In matches in which Brownlee records an assist, Furman is 10-0, while they are only 1-7 in matches in which she does not record an assist. Along with her school record for single season assists, Brownlee tied the school record for single game assists with four vs. UTC on 10/31, and is only one point away from tying the single season points record. Brownlee is already #4 on Furman's all-time assist chart, only seven behind Leah Versteegen.
All-Time Leader?
Tracking who Furman's all-time leading scorer is has been a difficult task over the past two seasons. Only 31 games into her collegiate career, Melissa Sutton became Furman's all-time leader in points last year as a sophomore only to see Liz Bielefeld pass her within a few weeks. Early this season, Sutton again became Furman's all-time leader as she scored in a 4-0 victory over ETSU on September 20 only to see current senior Leah Versteegen pass her just 20 days later during a three goal performance vs. Georgia Southern on October 9. With her one goal, one assist performance on Saturday vs. Chattanooga, Sutton again claimed the title as Furman's all-time leading scorer. As of today, Sutton has 26 goals and 22 assists for 74 points, while Leah Versteegen has 25 goals and 23 assists for 73 points.
Youth Serves Furman Well
Once again, Furman's women's soccer team is extremely young as eight freshman and sophomore regularly start in Furman's lineup. Five freshmen, including goalkeeper Melissa Barnes and leading scorer Kaye Brownlee are regular starters. Only one senior, Leah Versteegen is a regular in Furman's starting lineup.
Streaky Season
After beginning the season 2-3, the 1998 season has been one of ups and downs. Furman proceeded to march on to a school record eight straight wins before losing four straight. The Lady Paladins ended that losing streak vs. Chattanooga last week and hope to proceed on another long winning streak.