September 23, 2001
GREENVILLE -- The Furman women's soccer team rolled past UNCG 3-0 Sunday afternoon at Eugene Stone III Soccer Stadium to take the lead in the Southern Conference regular season race.
Furman has now won three of the last four meeting with UNCG and avenged last season's tournament championship match loss. Either Furman or UNCG has won the Southern Conference regular season or tournament title each of the last four seasons.
Furman and UNCG battled to a scoreless first half, thanks largely to the play of goalkeepers Melissa Barnes and Kathryn Clewley. UNCG's Clewley made a diving save on a Kaye Brownlee penalty kick in the 27th minute, while Furmanšs Barnes made two saves on Spartan shots from point blank range in the 40th minute.
Furman came out of intermission on fire, though, as the Lady Paladins scored three goals in the first 25 minutes of the half. Furman's all-time leading scorer Melissa Turner put the Lady Paladins on the board at the 47:17 mark after receiving a pass from Kathy Gaertner. Turner leads the team with five goals this season.
Katie Carson scored at the 56:56 mark off a deflection of her own shot to make the score 2-0. The play was set up as Kaye Brownlee attempted to knock in a Danielle Petro corner kick. The shot was deflected to Carson, whose first attempt was also blocked.
Danielle Petro put the finishing touches on the match as she connected after a nice give-and-go with freshman Alice Martin. Petro sent a backwards heel pass to Martin, who flicked it right back to Petro, who drilled a shot from 20 yards.
"This was a great match between two good teams," said Furman head coach Brian Lee. "I am extremely pleased with how we played this weekend, earning wins over two of the conference's best teams in Davidson (4-1) and UNCG (3-0). I thought the flow of this match was a great testament to the level of play in the Southern Conference."
Furman improves to 5-2 overall, 2-0 in the Southern Conference while UNCG falls to 4-3 overall, 1-1 in the SoCon. Furman extends its SoCon regular season winning streak to 20 matches with the win and its home regular season winning streak to 19 matches.
Furman entered the week ranked seventh in the Southeast Region, while UNCG was ranked tenth.
The Lady Paladins return to action Friday night against New Mexico in the Traditional Bank Invitational in Kentucky. Furman will also play Arizona State on Sunday.
Scoring:
Shots: Furman -- 14; UNCG -- 15.
Corner Kicks: Furman -- 5; UNCG -- 1.
Saves: Furman -- 9; UNCG -- 3.
Fouls: Furman -- 10; UNCG -- 23.