October 31, 2002
GREENVILLE -- Freshman Nicky Darling scored twice and freshman Erin Sanders recorded two assists as the Furman women's soccer defeated College of Charleston 2-0 Thursday night to finish the Southern Conference regular season unbeaten for the third time in four years.
The win moves Furman to 10-0 in league play as Furman has claimed four straight Southern Conference regular season championships.
The College of Charleston packed it in defensively forcing a scoreless first half in which Furman attempted only three shots and the Cougars attempted none.
Furman's patience paid off early in the second half as Nicky Darling scored her first goal of the night at the 53:51 mark. Lindsey Facciolo started the scoring plays as she rocketed a cross to the feet of Erin Sanders who tapped the ball to the left side of the box where Darling drilled it home.
Darling scored again just six minutes later to put Furman ahead 2-0. An Andre'a Morrison throw-in was flicked to Darling who scored from the middle of the box.
Furman attempted 19 shots on the match to College of Charleston's two.
"I was proud of our patience against a bunker defense," said Furman head coach Brian Lee. "We played very smart tonight, exactly how we needed to when facing that kind of a defense."
Furman improves to 12-5-1 overall, while College of Charleston falls to 6-7-3 overall, 4-4-1 in the Southern Conference. Furman will play host to 25th ranked Michigan State on Saturday night at Eugene Stone Soccer Stadium at 7:00. College of Charleston will take on IUPUI on Saturday before closing out the season at home against Davidson on Sunday.
Furman has now won seven straight matches and will take on eight seeded ETSU next Thursday in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament at 5:00 p.m.
Furman outscored SoCon opponents 37-4 on the year and posted shutouts in seven of ten contests.
Scoring:
Shots: Furman -- 19; CofC -- 2.
Corner Kicks: Furman -- 4; CofC -- 1.
Saves: Furman -- 2; CofC -- 5.
Fouls: Furman -- 16; CofC -- 9.