November 8, 2003

FURMAN-UNCG SET TO BATTLE FOR CONFERENCE TITLE

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Furman women's soccer team will tackle arch-rival UNCG on Sunday on the Spartans home field for the 2003 Southern Conference Women's Soccer Championship at 1:00 p.m.

Either Furman or UNCG has won the SoCon Tournament every year since 1997, with the Lady Paladins' winning the title in 1999 and 2002 and UNCG claiming titles in 1997, 1998, 2000, and 2001.

Furman owns a 6-5 advantage in the all-time series and the Lady Paladins have won the last three contests and six of the last eight. UNCG, though, owns a 3-1 advantage in conference tournament matches. Furman has won its last 11 matches played at UNCG Soccer Stadium, as both the 1999 and 2002 conference tournaments were also held in Greensboro.

The Lady Paladins enter the match as the top seed in the tournament as Furman claimed its fifth straight regular season title this year. Furman defeated Western Carolina 2-1 and Chattanooga 3-0 to earn a berth in the finals. The Spartans are the second seed after a 9-2 regular season record and defeated Wofford 2-0 and Appalachian State 1-0 to earn its championship match appearance.

Furman is currently 15-4-2 on the year and riding a 14 match unbeaten streak, the second longest active streak in the nation behind No. 1 North Carolina. Furman will also put a SoCon record 26 match conference unbeaten streak on the line against the Spartans. That streak is the eighth longest conference unbeaten streak in NCAA Division I history.

The Lady Paladins are led offensively by 2003 SoCon Player-of-the-Year Andre'a Morrison (12 goals) and two-time SoCon Player-of-the-Year Emily Turgeon (13 goals). Goalkeeper Andie Hinshaw has 0.97 goals against average on the year.

UNCG is 13-6-2 on the year and has been extremely stingy on defense this season. The Spartans have recorded nine shutouts in 13 SoCon matches this season, while only giving up five goals to Southern Conference opponents. UNCG has only given up two goals in its last eight matches.

"It is always a battle when Furman and UNCG meet," said Furman head coach Brian Lee. "The fact that an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament is on the line will just increase the intensity of this match."

The winner of the match will earn the Southern Conference's automatic berth into next weekend's NCAA Tournament.

Furman-UNCG All-time series

Furman leads 6-5