GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The Furman women's soccer team saw
its eight match winning streak snapped as South Carolina edged Furman 4-3
in an intense battle Tuesday at Eugene Stone Soccer Stadium.
All of the game's scoring was done in a wild first half. USC's Lydia Bienas put the Gamecocks on the board first with a goal from Mindy Sanders at the 16:40 mark. Just 33 seconds later, South Carolina scored its second goal as Jennie Ondo placed a ball over Furman keeper Melissa Barnes' head.
The Paladins got on the board at the 22:36 mark as Melissa Sutton raced down the sideline and knocked the ball over USC keeper Carrie Warner's head. Furman evened the score at the 26:47 mark with a Nicole Malseed goal off assists from Sarah Tollick and Melissa Sutton.
The score remained tied at 2-2 until a scoring frenzy of three goals in a 39 second time span finished the game's scoring. USC took a 3-2 lead at the 42:39 mark as Megan McIntyre scored off a Melinda Carter assist. It only took Furman 17 seconds to score off the ensuing kick-off as Melissa Sutton found Melissa Turner racing down the sideline to even the score. South Carolina then scored what turned out to be the game-winner just 22 seconds later with a Mandy Pavlovits goal at the 43:18 mark in the half.
Furman controlled much of the second half, but was unable to connect to even the score in an extremely physical match. Furman saw two of its top players, conference leading scorer Leah Versteegen and junior Melissa Sutton, ejected from the match with red cards in the final two minutes of play. Furman was without freshman sensation Kaye Brownlee for the entire match, as Brownlee sat out with a pulled hamstring.
"This was a crazy and intense match," said Furman head coach Brian Lee. "We came out a little slow, but picked it up and were able to play with a very good South Carolina team."
Furman falls to 10-4 on the season, while South Carolina improves to 8-3-1. Furman will host South Alabama this Sunday at 3:30 p.m.
Scoring:
Shots on Goal: Furman - 7; USC - 17.
Corner Kicks: Furman - 4; USC - 3.
Saves: Furman - 4; USC - 3.
Fouls: Furman - 9; USC - 7.
Red Cards: Melissa Sutton (Furman) 88:00, Leah Versteegen (Furman)
89:00
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