Nov. 5, 2008

SoCon Tournament Bracket

Greenville, S.C. -- The Furman women’s soccer team will go in search of its seventh consecutive trip to the Southern Conference Tournament championship match when the fifth-seeded Paladins face top-seed UNC Greensboro in the league semifinals on Friday at 4:30 p.m. at Patriots Point in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

Freshman Katya Gokhman scored her first career goal in the 89th minute to lift Furman (13-6-1) past Davidson 1-0 in quarterfinal round action last Sunday and secure the school’s 11th consecutive trip to the league semifinals. The Paladins, who sport a 25-9-1 all-time record in SoCon Tournament play, have participated in each of the last six league championship matches claiming titles in 2002, 2004 and 2007.

UNC Greensboro (15-4-1), winners of 10 straight matches, hold an 11-9-0 all-time series record against Furman, including a 3-2 victory in Greenville on October 19.. The Spartans last two losses two a SoCon opponent came at the hands of Furman with the Paladins scoring a 1-0 overtime victory over the Spartans in the 2005 league semifinals and 3-1 triumph in last year’s championship match.

The winner of Friday’s Furman-UNC Greensboro showdown will advance to Sunday’s 1 p.m. championship match to face the winner of the second semifinal between Western Carolina and Samford.

Furman and UNCG have combined to win 10 of the last 11 SoCon Tournament crowns and a share of 11 of the last 12 league regular season titles.