Greenville, S.C. – Beginning the 2022 campaign with a short drive to Furman for the 13
th all-time meeting between the two programs, the Presbyterian College women's soccer squad was vanquished by the Paladins on Friday night at Stone Stadium, taking a 3-0 setback despite gathering 12 total shots, four of which were on-goal.
FINAL SCORE: Furman 3 – Presbyterian 0
RECORDS: Presbyterian (0-1), Furman (1-0)
LOCATION: Stone Stadium
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Taking on the Paladins in game #1 for the second consecutive year, the home side was able to duplicate the result of the previous outing's affair against the Blue Hose, securing all three of their goals in the opening half. Scoring in the 16
th, 22
nd, and 38
th minutes to start the season off with the win, Furman was able to prevent Presbyterian from breaking through in the second stanza in a half that saw eight combined corner kicks.
Seizing six shot opportunities in each period for a total of 12, the Blue Hose were paced by four looks at the net from true freshman
Sloan Spees in her collegiate debut, followed closely by three apiece from
Kori Lawrence and
Gwen Keiser. Senior defender
Megan Wilson and Keiser stayed on the field for all 90 minutes in the season-opener, while starting midfielder
Caitlin Murphy logged 73 minutes.
Staying aggressive in an attempt to combat the three-goal deficit, PC managed a pair of corner kick opportunities within the opening 20 minutes of the second stanza, adding two more in the final two and a half minutes. Furman – picked to place second in the Southern Conference after a 12-win season last fall – found their trio of strikes from Stella Garcia, Ashlyn Goila, and Julia Nichols, garnering four saves from the keepers' duo of Addison Corn and Nora Sampson on the other side of the field.
UP NEXT:
Turning around for their home debut in less than 48 hours, the Blue Hose will serve as the hosts for the visiting Davidson Wildcats on Sunday afternoon at Martin Stadium. PC hopes to avenge a narrow 2-1 loss to their northern foe last September in Clinton, battling the Wildcats for only the third time in the school's Division I era at the close of the weekend at 2:00 p.m.
