October 29, 2003
GREENVILLE - Senior Emily Turgeon scored two second half goals on senior night to lead the Furman women's soccer team to a 3-2 victory over Wofford Wednesday night as the Lady Paladins clinched their fifth straight Southern Conference Championship.
The win was a record tying one for the Lady Paladins as Furman extended its overall unbeaten streak to 11 matches, tying the school record set in 1999 and 2002. Furman also extended its Southern Conference unbeaten streak to 23 contests, matching the previous record also set by Furman from 1999-2000. The win was Furman's eighth straight against Wofford.
Kelly Shedd put Furman on the board at the 11:52 mark of the first half as she knocked in an April Raymer corner kick. The lead lasted for the next 14 minutes when Woffordčs Jaime Cutts won a ball from Furman goalkeeper Andie Hinshaw and scored at the 25:59 mark.
Furman senior Emily Turgeon, the Lady Paladins' all-time leading scorer, took over in the second half with two goals in an eight minute time span. Turgeon's first goal was scored from 15 yards out after receiving a through ball from Nicky Darling at the 50:27 mark. Turgeon added her second goal of the night, her 11th of the season, at the 58:42 mark. An Andre'a Morrison shot was deflected off the crossbar then collected by Turgeon who finished the play.
Wofford's Cutts made the match interesting as she scored at the 66:08 mark to pull the Terriers to within 3-2, but the Lady Paladin defense held for the Furman win and yet another Southern Conference championship.
"I am excited to come away with another hard fought win and another Southern Conference championship," said Furman head coach Brian Lee. "The Southern Conference is getting tougher and tougher every year and this year was no different. The tournament should be interesting next weekend with several teams having a realistic shot to win. But we still have one more conference match that we must not overlook."
The Lady Paladins will travel to face Appalachian State on Friday night in its final regular season match of the season. With the win, Furman improves to 12-4-2 on the season, 9-0-1 in the Southern Conference. Wofford is 7-7-2 overall and concludes SoCon play with a 5-4-2 record.
Furman's Southern Conference title is it's sixth overall as the Lady Paladins own trophies from 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, and now 2003. The Lady Paladins will be the No. 1 seed in next weekend's SoCon Tournament and will face the eighth seed in the first round at 11:00 am on Thursday, November 6 in Greensboro, N.C.
Scoring:
Shots: Furman - 20; Wofford - 5
Saves: Furman - 6; Wofford - 2
Corner Kicks: Furman - 3; Wofford - 0
Fouls: Furman - 7; Wofford - 8