November 6, 2001
2001 Southern Conference Tournament Guide
GREENVILLE, SC -- Furman University prepares to host the 2001 Southern Conference Women's Soccer Championship, as the Lady Paladins enter the tournament as the number two seed.
The Lady Paladins earned a share of the regular season Southern Conference title after finishing with an 8-2 conference record. Furman shared the championship with Western Carolina and UNC Greensboro.
Furman has been to the tournament final in each of the past three seasons, claiming the tournament championship in 1999 with a 2-1 win in a four-overtime marathon in the championship over Davidson.
This season, the Lady Paladins will enter the tournament paced offensively by senior forward Melissa Turner. Turner is currently Furman's leading scorer with 14 goals and six assists on the season for 34 points. Junior Katie Carson leads this year's team with 11 assists this season.
Furman will also look to a defense anchored by goalkeeper Melissa Barnes. Barnes currently boasts a 1.30 goals against average, but has recorded shutouts in two of the last three matches. She has made 82 saves on the year. The Lady Paladins defense has proven stingy against conference opponents allowing only 0.71 goals per match this season.
"Entering this tournament, we need to be playing our best soccer of the season," said head coach Brian Lee. "We've taken advantage of this last week to get some players healthy, and I think our girls are going to be ready to play."
The Southern Conference Tournament champion receives an automatic bid into the 64-team NCAA Tournament. Furman is looking to earn a spot in that field for the third consecutive year. In 1999, after winning the conference tournament, the Lady Paladins lost to Central Florida in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In 2000, Furman fell to Duke in the first round after earning an at-large bid.
Furman (12-6-1 overall, 8-2 SoCon) will open the 2001 Southern Conference Tournament on Thursday at 5:00 at Eugene Stone III Soccer Stadium against the College of Charleston (6-10-1, 4-6 SoCon).
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