Furman 9, Chattanooga 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Furman scored three goals in the opening 15 minutes and tallied six second-half goals en route to a 9-0 victory over Chattanooga in Southern Conference women’s soccer action on Thursday evening at Finley Stadium.
The victory extended the Paladins’ unbeaten streak to eight matches and improved Furman to 8-2-1 overall and 2-0 in the SoCon. Chattanooga dropped to 4-6-0 overall and 0-3 in league play.
Sophomore Stephanie DeVita opened the scoring in the sixth minute by rounding the left side of the Chattanooga defense and hammering a shot into the center of the net for her SoCon-leading ninth goal of the year. DeVita’s tally marked her fifth match-winning goal of the season and 12th of her career, which ranks sixth in school history.
Fellow sophomore Jamie Alexander doubled the Paladins’ lead less than three minutes later with her first of two goals on the day as she deposited a shot past UTC goalkeeper Taylor Mangrum on a cross from the right side from Carlie Couch. The duo upped the lead to 3-0 at the 14:28 mark when Couch penetrated into the box and laid a pass off for Alexander to net her second goal in less than six minutes.
Couch, a freshman from Tifton, Ga., found the back of the net in the 54th minute. The forward ran onto a long ball over the top from Claire Sullivan before finishing the chance for her third score in the last three matches.
Junior India Robinson continued the onslaught at the 58:45 mark by curling a free kick past Mangrum to extend the margin to 5-0 and tally her second goal of 2013 to go with a nation-leading 12 assists.
Freshman Delaney Sheehan greeted reserve goalkeeper Lauren Thomas by following up a save off of a Kristin Fennegan shot to notch her third goal of the year in the 68th minute. Fennegan followed with a goal off of an Ellen Moore assist before Sheehan headed in a Colleen Lynch cross for her second tally of the night and fourth of the season.
With just 34 seconds left, Fennegan took a lofted pass from Sheehan and fired into the back of the net to cap the 9-0 victory with her second goal of the game.
The Paladins outshot Chattanooga 31-5 and managed a 17-0 advantage in shots on goal. Goalkeepers Rose Hull and Maggie Grisell each played 45 minutes in goal for Furman, with Hull earning the victory. Mangrum finished with seven saves for the Mocs.
Furman’s nine goals marked its most since 2007 and the first 9-0 triumph over a SoCon opponent since topping The Citadel 9-0 in 2005. The Paladins have outscored their first two SoCon opponents of 2013 by a combined score of 16-0, including 13-0 in the second half.
Furman returns to Stone Soccer Stadium to host Samford on Sunday at 2 p.m. in a showdown between two of the favorites in this year’s SoCon race.
Chattanooga will hit the road Sunday to take on Wofford in the first of a three-game road trip. The game will kick off at 2 p.m.
Samford 2, Wofford 1
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Samford University soccer team remained undefeated at home Thursday as the Bulldogs posted a 2-1 Southern Conference victory against Wofford squad that entered the contest riding a five-match winning streak. Samford improved to 6-0-1 at the Samford Track and Stadium with the triumph.
With Thursday's win, Samford (8-2-1, 2-0-1 SoCon) improved to 5-0-3 all-time against Wofford (5-3-1, 1-1-0 SoCon) and remained undefeated versus the Terriers.
The Bulldogs’ victory also set up a huge SoCon showdown Sunday at Furman. The Paladins, who currently own a 2-0 conference record this season, were picked first in the league's preseason poll, while Samford garnered the second-place position. Sunday's key SoCon matchup will begin at 1 p.m. (CDT) in Greenville, S.C.
On Thursday, Samford received goals from true freshman Taylor Borman and senior midfielder Trine Taule en route to its 2-1 victory over Wofford.
Borman scored the opening goal of the match in the 20th minute to give Samford an early 1-0 lead.
On Borman's score, which proved to be the first of her young collegiate career, fellow freshman Anna Allen sent a chest-high crossing pass from left to right in the box. Borman, who was positioned nicely to the left of Wofford goalkeeper Kimberly Cohn, headed Allen's perfectly placed pass into the left-hand corner of the net for the goal.
The assist was Allen's third of the season.
The Terriers evened the score at 1-1 just 2:19 before halftime, when Faith Lifer tallied her first goal of the season on an assist from Maggie Bosley. The goal came off a free kick from just outside of Samford's 18-yard box.
Samford outshot Wofford 24-8 on Thursday, but the Bulldogs' most important shot of the night came off the head of Taule in the 70th minute.
With the score still deadlocked at 1-1, Samford registered one of its six corner kicks from the right side of the field, where Johnson sent a hooking crossing pass into the box. On the pass, Taule broke brilliantly to her right and headed home the game-winner into the right corner of the net.
Taule's decisive goal came at exactly 69:02 into the match and gave Samford its key 2-1 advantage. The score proved to be Taule's fifth of the season and the 21st of her illustrious career. With eight matches remaining in the regular-season, she finds herself just five goals behind former Samford great Marian Wagner for the all-time school record.
With Johnson's assist on Taule's game-winner, she notched her team-high fourth of the 2013 campaign.
Wofford's Cohn registered a season-high 12 saves Thursday and faced a barrage of 24 shot attempts from Samford. The Bulldogs' Melissa Montgomery earned her second victory of the season and finished the night with three stops.
Wofford is back in action on Sunday when it returns to Snyder Field to take on Southern Conference opponent Chattanooga at 2 p.m.