Senior captain Sarah Tollick put the Lady Paladins on top early with a goal at the 20:54 mark in the first half. Freshman Danielle Petro's shot deflected off the crossbar to Tollick, who ripped the shot past two Wolfpack defenders.
The score remained 1-0 until late in the second half when Furman's Melissa Turner finished a one-on-one after receiving a Petro pass. NC State rallied to pull to within 2-1 as Laura Scott connected from 20 yards out off a deflected shot by Shannon Tully at the 76:58 mark. Furman responded quickly to the Wolfpack's lone goal as Turner scored her second goal of the day and 12th of the season just 49 seconds later to make the score 3-1.
"I am happy to come away with another win, especially over a team from the ACC," said Furman head coach Brian Lee. "I look forward to seeing where we stand against the No. 2 team in the country tomorrow."
Furman will battle upstate rival Clemson Saturday at 7 p.m. in a match-up of unbeaten teams. The Tigers are ranked second in the nation after defeating North Carolina last week. Furman is ranked in the top 25 for the first time in school history this week as the Lady Paladins are 23rd in the Soccer Buzz national poll and 25th in the American Sports Writers poll.
Furman is off to its best start in school history with a 9-0 record
on the season. The Lady Paladins have not trailed at all in the
2000 campaign as they have racked up victories over two teams from
the SEC, one from the ACC, one from the Big East, and one from Conference
USA this season.
Furman has outscored their last seven opponents 40-4. Furman has currently won 18 straight regular season matches and 21 of its last 22 overall matches.
N.C. State falls to 4-4-1 and will face UNC Asheville Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Clemson's Riggs Field.
Scoring:
Corner Kicks: FU - 6, NCSU - 1
Saves: FU - 6, NCSU - 8
Fouls: FU - 13, NCSU - 9