October 19, 1999

FURMAN'S RODRIGUEZ NAMED SOCON PLAYER-OF-THE-WEEK

GREENVILLE, SC -- Furman's Stephen Rodriguez was selected as the Southern Conference men's soccer player-of-the-week on Tuesday after helping Furman to two key SoCon road wins last week.

Rodriguez, a senior midfielder from New Braunfels, Texas, scored the lone goal in Furman's 1-0 victory over Appalachian State and scored the clincher in Furman's 3-1 victory over UNC Greensboro. Both Appalachian State and UNC Greensboro were unbeaten in the conference before falling to the Paladins.

The Paladins vaulted to 8th in the nation in the latest Soccer America poll and 10th in the NSCAA poll to give Furman it's highest-ever soccer ranking.

"Stephen played two very good matches this week, said Furman head coach Doug Allison. "He came up with some big goals for us when we needed it. "

Furman is currently 11-1-1 overall and 5-0 in the Southern Conference. The Paladins have two more Southern Conference matches this week as the travel to Davidson for a 7 p.m. Friday match and host VMI Sunday at 2 p.m.

Rodriguez' selection marks the third SoCon player-of-the-week citation for the Paladins as Scott Blount earned the honor in week one and John Barry Nusum was selected in week four.