SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford women's soccer team (5-8-5, 2-4-2) took down Furman (8-3-5, 2-2-4) on Sunday afternoon to close out regular season play at Snyder Field. The Terriers earned three points with today's 1-0 shutout win, moving them to eight points total in conference.

"We've been waiting for this all season and for it being one of our last home games, it just felt so good," Kate Markey said after today's match. "To give that to the coaches who've worked so hard for us, and we've worked so hard, it's amazing."

The Terriers came out in the first half fighting to put pressure on Furman's offense. Wofford's pressure slowly worked its way to Furman's midfield, taking away the momentum from the Paladins and shifting it to the Terriers.

Ines Obradovac found the first opportunity for the Terriers in the 16^th minute with a strike to the low left. Furman's Reese DeJong quickly saved Obradovac's strike but caused a recache of two more shot attempts by Julia Grier and Kaliegh Gonzales deep in the box. Each of their attempts was brushed away by the Paladins' defense.

This sequence gave the Terriers the boost they needed to seek more opportunities downfield to break down Furman's backline.

As the clock hit the 24^th minute, Ellie Gower passed the ball deep in the Paladins' box to the feet of Kate Markey. Markey's strike to the low right corner went deep into the net to give the Terriers a 1-0 lead over Furman.

"We don't get too many chances in a game like that, and it was such a perfect ball across the box," Markey said. "I knew I needed to do it for the team, so I tried to stay composed and go for it."

The Paladins ramped up their defense, forcing more errors on the Terriers to give breaks to their game. However, Wofford's backline kept strong, forcing out several shot attempts by Furman to end the half.

Wofford and Furman ended the first half with five shots each, but the Terriers held a 3-1 shots on goal advantage over the Paladins. Furman saw five corner kick attempts and registered seven fouls. Meanwhile, Wofford saw no corner kicks and five fouls, two being yellow cards on Grier and Markey. Elizabeth Navola recorded one save compared to Furman's two.

The Terriers had great pressure on their backs coming back from the halftime break. Furman wasted no time in striking first, but the shot attempt missed left of the post. The Paladins continued to put pressure on Wofford's backline, but Navola held her position firm in the goal to keep their attempts away.

When the Paladins' backline began to relax, Obradovac saw an opportunity to make a solo run deep in the box to double the Terriers' lead. Her first attempt at 69:36 was swiftly broken by Furman's keeper DeJong but gave Obradovac another chance at 69:42 to strike again. However, this time the Paladins' defense blocked the attempt.

The Terriers continued to fight in the backline to keep their lead over Furman. As time was coming closer to the end and the Terriers were seeing their first victory at home, the Paladins picked up a penalty kick attempt in the 81^st minute.

As Furman's Ellie Herrmann eyed to equalize the game to bring the Paladins' their fourth-straight tie, Navola kept her position firm on the line. Herrmann's attempt struck low to the right, but Navola's quickness deflected Herrmann's attempt.

For the remainder of the match, Furman continued to create opportunities to tie, but the Terriers' backline proved to be unshakable and walked away with a 1-0 victory.

"They've been continuing to buy in with what we've been asking them to do," head coach Kevin Dempsey said. "We've bent and bent, but we never break. We're getting better at the right times."

The Terriers ended the match with eight shots, five on goal, compared to the Paladins' 19 shots, five on goal. Furman saw 13 corner kicks while Wofford only saw one. Navola ended with four saves and her second straight shutout.

"It's everything to play for, we've been telling the team this week and the past several weeks, that we have everything to play for and that's how we're showing up and performing," Dempsey said.

Notes:
Markey earned her second goal of the season and first in conference play.

Gower recorded her sixth assist on the season, and her third assist in just two games.

Navola is two-for-two in penalty kick saves, her first being at Navy on August 21.          

Obradovac was three-for-three in shots/shots on goal.       

The Terriers broke the Paladins' three-game unbeaten streak with today's win.             

Wofford is 3-1-3 in the last seven meetings against Furman.

The Terriers will travel to Mercer for their regular season finale on Sunday, October 26. Kickoff will be at 2 p.m., streaming on ESPN +.