#4 Western Carolina 1, #2 Furman 0
GREENVILLE, SC ? Western Carolina used an early second-half goal by Heather Dittmer to garner their first Southern Conference Women’s Soccer Championship with a 1-0 victory over Furman at Stone Stadium on the campus of Furman University.
Western Carolina garnered the game-winning goal at the 47:43 mark when Natalie Turgeon found Dittmer just inside the six-yard box.
Dittmer took advantage of the Turgeon cross, placing the ball in the back of the net with a header between the pipes after Furman All-SoCon first-team goalkeeper Andie Hinshaw was caught out of position.
It was Dittmer’s seventh goal of the 2005 season.
In the shutout win, Western’s Alesha Row tallied her 13th shutout of the 2005 season, extending her own school record. Row’s exploits earned her tournament MVP honors.
After the game Row was understandably shaken and awestruck by the outcome, articulating how much the win meant to the media while her teammates took the Western Carolina flag hanging atop the hilltop at Stone Stadium and paraded around the stadium.
“I am speechless,” noted Row. “Going to (the NCAA Tournament) is such a thrill. I cannot say enough about what we did.”
Western Carolina controlled the game, using a strong defensive effort to earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
In their seventh year as a program, Western Carolina will take the pitch in the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever in 2005.
Furman did have their chances in the contest.
The first real chance for the Paladins came in the 29th-minute when Emily Krankowski won the ball at midfield and promptly made her way into the Western Carolina box unmarked.
Row was up to the challenge, exerting herself towards Kranskowski and making a brilliant sprawling sliding save and thwarting Furman’s best chance in the entire contest.
Furman continuously tried to find the equalizer in the game, particularly in the final 15 minutes, but could not find their way.
Western Carolina becomes the first SoCon champion besides Davidson, Furman or UNC Greensboro and the first four seed to win the tournament.
Prior to Western’s Cinderella win on Sunday no team seeded below the third slot had ever won the SoCon Women’s Soccer Championship.
Catamounts’ head coach Tammy DeCesare becomes the second SoCon coach to win the championship in their first year at the helm of their program. Eddie Radwanski accomplished the feat first in 2001, one year after the Spartans won the championship with Jack Poland in charge.
Western Carolina will learn their foe in the NCAA Tournament at 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 7.
All-Tournament Team
Kara Koehrn Davidson
Chloe King Davidson
Erin Sanders Furman
Andie Hinshaw Furman
Nicky Darling Furman
Tyson Davis UNC Greensboro
Dacia Beachum UNC Greensboro
Arlan Whittle Western Carolina
Meghan Reilly Western Carolina
Casey Davis Western Carolina
Heather Dittmer Western Carolina
Tournament MVP
Alesha Row Western Carolina