Game Notes

November 1, 2000

FURMAN WOMEN READY TO DEFEND TITLE

GREENVILLE, SC -- The 13th ranked Furman women's soccer team will begin its defense of the Southern Conference Tournament Title Thursday morning with an 11:30 a.m. match against Appalachian State. The Lady Paladins have already completed their defense of the SoCon regular season title as they finished with a perfect 9-0 league mark for the second straight season.

Counting last season's conference tournament, the Lady Paladins have won 21 straight Southern Confernee matches, the second longest active streak in the nation. Over that streak, Furman has outscored SoCon opponents 77-13 and 11 of those matches have been shutouts. Furman is a heavy favorite to claim the SoCon's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, but will be challenged by a number of teams, most notably UNCG, Georgia Southern, and Davidson. UNCG finished second in league play with a 7-2 mark, while Georgia Southern and Davidson finished tied for third with a 6-3 record.

Furman dominated the 2000 all-conference balloting as the Lady Paladins placed six players on the first team, comprising over half of the Southernıs Conference's first team. Furman freshman Emily Turgeon became the first player in SoCon women's history to be named freshman-of-the-year and player-of-the-year in the same season. Turgeon is the nation's leading scorer with 21 goals and 17 assists for 59 points. Turgeonıs closest competition in the nation has 47 points, 12 shy of Turgeonıs mark.

If Furman advances to its third straight the SoCon finals, the program will experience two firsts - its first televised match and its first radio broadcast. The Southern Conference finals will be televised on the Comcast/CSS network and Furman is planning an internet broadcast of the finals if either the men's or women's teams adavnce to Sundayıs championship. (For more information on the radio/tv broadcast go to www.furman.edu/soccer_womens)

The winner of the Southern Conference Tournament will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which starts Wednesday, November 8. Last season, Furman advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever, before falling at home to Central Florida 1-0.

Furman's success over the last two years has not just been within the conference. The Lady Paladins have a 38-4 record since 1999, the second best mark in the nation behind Nebraska at 39-2-2.

2000 Southern Conference Womenıs Soccer Tournament

Quarterfinals:

Semifinals

Championship