GREENVILLE, S.C. ? The Chattanooga women's soccer team fell 8-0 to Furman in the regular season finale for both teams Thursday night at Stone Soccer Stadium as the Lady Paladins celebrated Senior Night.
The win improved Furman to 13-5-1 overall and 7-2-1 in the SoCon while the Lady Mocs fell to 2-12-2 overall and 2-7-1 in the league.
After several near misses and three shots off of the post in the early going, Rachel Fry opened the scoring barrage for Furman in the 28th minute. Gena Villari unleashed a shot from the left side of the box that bounced off of the near post and into the path of Fry who tapped home her ninth goal of the season.
Less than two minutes later, Anna Betton found Margaret Antonik on a diagonal run and the midfielder beat UTC keeper Milla Junni top shelf to give Furman a 2-0 lead at the half.
Katie Tucker and Sara El-Shami put their names on the score sheet with goals just 30 second apart early in the second half. Tucker collected a loose ball in the box and slipped a shot past the keeper for her eight tally of the year at 48:57. El-Shami followed at 49:27 running onto a Betton pass on the left wing and chipping a shot over Junni's head into the far corner.
Fry stretched the lead to 5-0 with her second goal of the night at 53:39. The junior controlled a loose ball at the top of the box and lined a low shot into the right side of the net. Betton followed with her league-leading 13th goal of the night in the 77th minute stealing the ball from a defender and scoring from 12 yards out.
Olivia Dashiell came off of the bench to notch her third goal of the year at 82:30. Emily Krankowski lined a shot off of the post and Dashiell finished the rebound at the far post to up the lead to 7-0. A late own goal off of a corner kick capped the scoring.
Furman outshot the Lady Mocs 32-4 and held a 20-0 edge in shots on goal. Furman took eight corner kicks while holding Chattanooga without an attempt all night.
Junni made 11 saves for the Lady Mocs. Briana da Mota and Claire Richards split time in goal for Furman and were not forced into a save.
The victory locked up the third seed for Furman in upcoming Southern Conference Tournament. The Lady Paladins will play host to sixth-seed Appalachian State in a 5 p.m. quarterfinal round match on Sunday afternoon at Stone Stadium.
