Elon Women’s Soccer Comes Up With Key Road Win at Furman

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Rookie Mel Insley’s penalty kick in the second half was the difference maker on Sunday, Oct. 7, that helped the Elon women’s soccer team come up with a key 2-1 road victory over the Furman Paladins.

Elon improves to 4-6-5 (2-1-3 Southern Conference) with the win, while the Paladins fall to 9-3-2 (2-2-2 Southern Conference) with the loss.

“Today was a great win for us,” said Elon head coach Chris Neal. “It’s always a challenge to pick up a result on the road in this conference and our girls played extremely well and with a whole lot of discipline against a very good Furman team.”

Insley broke a 1-1 tie in the 58th minute of the match when she knocked in her first collegiate goal on a penalty kick following a Furman foul in the box on Taylor Glenn.

The Phoenix defense put the clamps on the Furman offense from there, limiting the Paladins to just three shots on-target from that point forward. Furman had two shots blocked by the maroon and gold in the final three minutes, but the Phoenix held strong.

Shannon Foley scored her first goal of the season in the win, as her header off an Olivia Mackey corner in the 24th minute put Elon ahead, 1-0.

The Paladins answered just five minutes later after Stephanie DeVita knocked in her league-best 15th goal of the season for the equalizer.

But Insley’s goal in the second half was enough, as Elon held off the SoCon’s top scoring offense.

Furman finished the match with a 16-8 advantage in shots, but only a 6-5 edge in shots on goal.

Kate Murphy totaled five saves in 90 minutes between the posts.

Elon’s next match is Friday, Oct. 12, at 7 p.m. when the Phoenix hosts Georgia Southern at Rudd Field.