Furman 6, UNC Asheville 0

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Five different Paladins found the back of the net as the Furman women’s soccer team cruised to a 6-0 victory over UNC Asheville in nonconference action on Thursday evening at Stone Soccer Stadium.

The Paladins improved to 5-1-0, while UNCA dipped to 1-5-0 on the season. The win marked Furman’s fourth consecutive triumph and fourth straight shutout.

Freshman Stephanie DeVita, who leads the Paladins with six goals in six matches, opened the scoring at 8:43 by driving by her defender down the right side and hammering a shot between the Bulldogs’ keeper and the near post for what would become her fifth game-winner of the season.

Caitlin Shelton doubled the lead at 19:10. The junior received the ball from India Robinson and drilled a shot across the face of goal and off of the left post for her first tally of the season. Less than four minutes later, Anna Shea pushed the margin to 3-0 with her first of the campaign when Martha Hall whipped a shot across the box that Shea tucked away from the left side at 22:36.

Freshman Jamie Alexander finished from inside the six-yard box for her first collegiate goal at 29:23 and Kristin Fennegan extended the Furman advantage to 5-0 at 33:02 by finishing a rebound off of Alexander’s shot on goal.

Furman capped the scoring at the 39:31 mark as Emily Graves saved a ball from crossing the end line with a flick into the middle of the box that Alexander headed into the center of the UNCA net for her second goal of the night.

Paladin goalkeeper Rose Hull was tested several times late in the first half, including a diving save and a stop on a point-blank shot from UNCA’s Amanda Dailor at the top of the six-yard box. Hull, a freshman from Brentwood, Tenn., finished with four saves in 45 minutes of work to secure the victory in goal while Maggie Grissel and Holly Reilly split time in net during the second half.

Heather Muller recorded seven saves in the loss for the Bulldogs.

Furman managed a 25-10 edge in shot attempts with each team earning three corner kicks.

The Paladins take a short rest before hosting Jacksonville University in a 1:30 p.m. contest at Stone Stadium on Saturday.

Tickets are $3 for adults and $1 for children. Furman students receive free admission with a valid student ID.

Wofford 2, Winthrop 1

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford women’s soccer team defeated Winthrop on Thursday night by a score of 2-1. Emily Bougas and Annika Jansson scored to lead the Terriers to their third consecutive victory. Wofford improves to 4-1-0 on the year, while Winthrop drops to 1-3-0.

Wofford opened the scoring in the fifth minute when Amanda Morris assisted on Bougas’ second goal of the season. Morris won possession then lofted a ball to Bougas who beat Eagle goalkeeper Amelia Henderson one-on-one with a low strike into the bottom left corner.

Winthrop was able to tie the game in the 36th minute after Imani Ervins earned a penalty for being brought down in the box. Kylene Babauta converted the penalty to tie the game 1-1.

The score was still tied at the break. Both teams took six shots but Winthrop held the edge in corner kicks (2-1).

The second half started slowly for both teams as neither was able to create quality scoring chances. However, Wofford would break the tie in the 58th minute when Maureen Buff assisted on Jansson’s game-winning goal. Buff passed the ball back to Jansson, who fired a shot from 25 yards that skipped past Henderson into the bottom left corner of the net.

Buff has assisted on a goal in three consecutive matches, and Jansson has scored back-to-back game-winners.

Winthrop pushed to score an equalizer but keeper Kara Boggs and the Terrier defense were too strong as they held on to secure the 2-1 win.

Boggs earned the victory and improved to 2-0. She recorded four saves on 12 shots faced. Henderson took the loss and dropped to 1-3 on the year.

The Terriers hit the road for their next match, as they face the Bulldogs of UNC Asheville on Sunday. The game is set to kick off at 2 p.m.