August 16, 2001
GREENVILLE, SC -- The Furman women's soccer team was selected by the Southern Conference's coaches to capture their third straight regular season title. The Lady Paladins also landed six players on the preseason All-Southern Conference team.
Furman, who finished last seasoon 20-3 including a 9-0 mark in regular season league play, edged out UNC Greensboro by a single vote. The Lady Paladins received six of the 11 first place votes. Furman has currently won 18 consecutive Southern Conference regular season mathces.
"Being on top of the Southern Conference is definitely where we want to be," said head coach Brian Lee. "But itıs only August, and our goal is to be on the top of that list at the end of the season."
Six Lady Paladins also garnered preseason all-conference accolades as Melissa Turner, Kaye Brownlee, Lauren Killey, Katie Carson, Danielle Petro, and Emily Turgeon each were named to the team.
Senior captain Melissa Turner currently ranks second all-time in goals and points in Furman women's soccer history and is a two-time first team All-Southern Conference selection. Kaye Brownlee, another senior captain, in Furman's all-time leader in assists and was named the 1999-2000 Southern Conference Female Athlete-of-the-Year. She is also the NCAA's active career assist leader. Senior defender Lauren Killey is a three-time selection to the conference's first team.
Junior Katie Carson has put together two seasons in which she was named to the Southern Conference All-Tournament teams, as well as being selected to the conference's second team in her freshman season. Danielle Petro, a sophomore forward, earned second team All Conference honors last season as well as being named to the Soccer Buzz Southeast Region All Freshman team.
Also named to this preseason conference team was sophomore forward Emily Turgeon. Turgeon was named the Southern Conference Player-of-the-Year and Freshman-of-the-Year as she led the nation in scoring with 23 goals and 17 assists last year.
Furman opens its season on August 31 against LaSalle in the Baylor Labor Day Classic in Waco, Texas. The Lady Paladins begin their run at their third consecutive Southern Conference regular season title on September 21, when they play host to Davidson College.
2001 SOUTHERN CONFERENCE COACHES PRESEASON POLL
2001 Southern Conference Preseason All-League Team