October 12, 2008
Furman Women’s Soccer Blanks Chattanooga, 2-0
Greenville, S.C. -- Freshman Jessica Smith tallied six saves and recorded her fourth shutout of the season to lead Furman to a 2-0 victory over Chattanooga in Southern Conference women’s soccer action Sunday afternoon
at Stone Soccer Stadium.
The win snapped a two-match skid for Furman and improved the Paladins to 9-5-1 overall and 3-3 in the SoCon. Chattanooga fell to 4-10-1 overall and 1-5 in the league.
Smith upped her record to 7-2-1 in net with the help of a diving stop in the first half and leaping effort to tip Chelsea Hurst’s free kick over the cross bar after intermission.
Rachel Fry provided all the offense the Paladins would need in the sixth minute with her fifth goal of the season. Sara El-Shami, who increased her SoCon leading assist total to eight, led Fry streaking into the center of the box and the senior slid her shot inside the left post at 5:29 to
give Furman a 1-0 lead.
The pair connected again in the 50th minute. Fry lined a shot towards the left post and El-Shami tapped in the rebound to net her second goal of the season and provide the final 2-0 margin.
Furman outshot the Lady Mocs 25-8, including a 12-6 edge in shots on goal, while holding an 8-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Goalkeeper Allie Preston kept the Lady Mocs within striking distance most of the afternoon with several diving saves to clear her line. The freshman finished with 10 saves in the defeat.
Chattanooga returns home to host The Citadel on Friday at 7 p.m. Furman will entertain Elon at 7 p.m. on Friday before welcoming rival UNC Greensboro to Stone Stadium next Sunday.
