Women's Soccer Defeats Furman, Advances To SoCon Final

Friday, November 7

7:30 pm

Mercer University

13-5-2

Furman

13-4-2

Team	1	2	Final F
Mercer	1	2	3
Furman	0	2	2

Women's Soccer Defeats Furman, Advances To SoCon Final

11/7/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Mercer women's soccer team downed Furman, 3-2, on Friday night to advance to the Southern Conference Championship game.

"It was a tremendous game tonight with two really good teams battling it out," said Head Coach Tony Economopoulos. "We drew a couple of weeks ago at their place, so we knew it would be a tight match. We came out and got an early goal and then Maggie (Cropp) made a huge save on the penalty kick, along with a handful of other tremendous saves for us. It was a great testament to our girls today and never quitting; we were up today and they tied it up a couple of times and credit to Furman, they did a great job with that. We found a way to get that third goal, with a little fortune. I credit our team for never conceding or stopping and playing a full 90 minutes."

Maggie Cropp tallied a career-high 12 saves for Mercer (13-5-2), including seven in the first half alone.

Maddie Clark struck first offensively, sending a long shot into the back of the net in the sixth minute, to put Mercer up 1-0. The Bears entered halftime with a 1-0 advantage.

Furman (13-4-2) tied the game, 1-1, in the 58th minute when Stephanie DeVita found Molly Dwyer inside the box and Dwyer sent the ball to the left corner of the net.

The Bears took the lead again, 2-1, in the 65th minute when Kristen Hagaman scored her first goal of the season off a deflected shot from Washida Blackman. The Paladins knotted the score, 2-2, just three minutes later when Carlie Couch scored off a deflected shot from DeVita.

Mercer gained its final advantage of the match in the 83rd minute after a Furman defender knocked the ball in their own goal following a scuffle in the box.

Mercer will face Samford in the championship match on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Catamount Athletic Complex.

For all the latest information on Mercer women's soccer, please visit MercerBears.com or, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow Mercer soccer on Twitter at @MercerWSoccer or www.twitter.com/MercerWSoccer.