After a 2-3 loss against Wofford and 1-3 loss to Western Carolina, Furman Women’s soccer would fall to 0-2 in conference play as the Paladins would welcome in ETSU for a match on Sunday, October 3rd. The Paladins would earn their first conference win as they would beat the East Tennessee State Buccaneers handily in a 3-1 victory. This win would help Furman advance to a 5-4-1 record on this year and 1-2 in conference matchups as both Nieva Gaither and Jasmine Greene would assist each other’s goal on the day.
The Paladins would take an early lead over ETSU as Jasmine Greene would score to get Furman on the board first in the back half of the 9th minute (Assisted by Nieva Gaither). This early lead would help Furman control the pace of the game as they would continue to attack in the first half. Furman would then extend their lead in the 26th minute when both Greene and Gaither would have scoring opportunities. During this possession, Greene’s first shot attempt would be saved by Shu Ohba, the ETSU goalkeeper. But Greene would collect the rebound herself and pass to an open Nieva Gaither as Gaither would score her second goal of the season and give the Paladins a solid 2-0 lead over ETSU heading into halftime.
The second half started in a very similar fashion to the first. The Paladins would score yet another goal in the 49th minute to give them a commanding 3-0 lead only 5 minutes into the second half. This goal came when Furman Senior, Isabella Gutierrez, would be given a penalty kick from just outside the 18-yard box. This goal would be Gutierrez’s third goal of the season.
ETSU would rally too late as a goal would come for them in the 68th minute by Mokomo Horiuchi. Furman would win this contest handily as the team would post double the amount of shots on goal as ETSU with a total of 8-4. Jasmine Greene of Furman would have three of these. Despite a slower start to conference play than the Paladins would have liked, this latest win puts them in position to advance to 2-2 in the conference as they will continue conference matchups this Friday Oct. 8th as they travel to Chattanooga to play the Mocs.
