October 21, 2001
GREENVILLE -- The Furman women's soccer team was upset Sunday afternoon by Western Carolina 3-2 at Eugene Stone III Soccer Stadium. The loss was Furman's first conference home loss in 13 matches.
Western Carolina jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as Kelly Barker scored off assists from Nardia Moore and Brandy Ossmann at the 4:19 mark on a shot from 12 yards out. Furman rebounded quickly and evened the score at 1-1 at the 10:19 mark as Kaye Brownlee knocked in a free ball in the box after Kathy Gaertner seved in a corner kick and Katie Carson flicked in on.
The Catamounts got a key goal late in the first half to take the 2-1 lead as Barker connected on her second goal of the afternoon by shooting a ball from the right side of the box over Furman keeper Melissa Barnes.
Neither team scored again until the 76:04 mark when Christel Kirkpatrick extended the Catamounts lead to 3-1 on a shot from ten yards out off a Lauren Bramlett assist.
Down by two goals, the Lady Paladins put the pressure on and was able to cut the lead to 3-2 with just under six minutes to play as Emily Turgeon scored after receiving a Cristina Echavarry header off a Kaye Brownlee corner kick. Furman continued the offensive attack and was set to score the equalizer with three minutes to play when Western Carolina keeper Mandi Tinsley made a reflex kick save on an Emily Turgeon shot from point blank range to preserve the win for the Catamounts.
"We can not play the way we played for 80 minutes, then expect to play with intensity for the last ten and win soccer matches," said Furman head coach Brian Lee. "Western Carolina deserved to win this match today. They played harder and wanted the match more than we did. Our intensity and desire has got to change before this season is over or it will be an early finish to the season.²
Furman falls to 9-6-1 on the year, 5-2 in the Southern Conference, while Western Carolina improves to 12-4, 6-2. Furman will face College of Charleston next Friday night in Charleston, while Western Carolina returns to action next Friday at home against East Tennessee State.
Furman, Western Carolina, UNCG (6-2), and Appalachian State (5-2-1) all now have two conference losses as each trails league leading Georgia Southern (6-1-1) in the Southern Conference race. Furman and Georgia Southern will meet next Sunday at 1:00 in Statesboro.
Scoring:
Shots: Furman -- 13; WCU -- 13.
Corner Kicks: Furman -- 10; WCU -- 1.
Saves: Furman -- 6; WCU -- 3.
Fouls: Furman -- 7; WCU -- 11.