Furman-North Carolina NCAA Tournament Game Notes
THE GAME
Furman enters the NCAA Tournament having won 12 straight matches. Furman is making its third NCAA Tournament appearance and its first since 1993. The Paladins are ranked third in the nationin the final Soccer America poll marking their highest-ever national ranking. The Paladins will face North Carolina in the first round. The winner of this first round match will face the winner of VCU and Wake Forest.
HEAD COACH
Furman: Doug Allison (South Carolina '89)
North Carolina: Elmar Bolowich
FURMAN-UNC SERIES
UNC leads the all-time series with the Paladins 6-2-1, though Furman has a 2-1-1 advantage in the 1990s.
In Greenville: Series tied 1-1-1
In Chapel Hill: UNC leads 5-1-0
NORTH CAROLINA
North Carolina enters the NCAA Tournament with a 12-6-1 record. The Tar Heels finished fifth in the ACC with a 2-3-1 record. UNC advanced to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament last weekend by defeating Clemson 1-0 in overtime. The Tar Heels then lost to top seeded Duke 4-0 in the semifinals. North Carolina is making its eighth NCAA Tournament appearance and its first since 1994. This is the fifth tournament appearance under the Elmar Bolowich regime. UNC's leading scorer is Chris Carrieri with 12 goals and five assists. Caleb Norkus has nine goals and two assists, while Michael Bucy lead the team with 10 assists. Bucy places 20th in the nation in assists per match. Tar Heel goalkeeper Michale Ueltschey has a goals against average of 1.03. The Tar Heels are ranked 10th in the nation in scoring with a 2.63 goals per match average.
FURMAN-UNC LAST MEETING
Furman 2, UNC 1 (10/19/97) Daniel Alvarez scored the game-winner with 1:14 to play as Furman defeated North Carolina 2-1 at Eugene Stone Soccer Stadium. Furman freshman Carl Junot put Furman on the board midway through the second half with a header set up by a Seth Marks corner and a Daniel Alvarez header. The Paladins held their lead for the next 10 minutes until Carey Talley evened the score at the 78:53 mark in the second half. The game-winner came as Daniel Alvarez placed a ball past a charging Tar Heel goalkeeper who was attempting to recover a Stephen Rodriguez shot.
Scoring:
THE LAST MATCH
Furman 1, Radford 0
Furman downed Radford 1-0 to earn its third-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Sophomore Matt Goldsmith's goal just 26 seconds into the second half was all the Paladins needed to secure the victory and its first tournament appearance in the Doug Allison regime. Furman won its 12th straight match with the victory.
NOTING THE PALADINS
THE BIG DANCE...After three years of falling just short of the NCAA Tournament, the Furman Paladins will be making their first appearance in the tournament since 1993 and third overall. Furman made its first-ever NCAA Tournament in 1991 and upset Wake Forest, the region's top seed in Winston-Salem. Furman's run was thwarted by North Carolina State the next week as the Wolfpack downed Furman 4-1 in Raleigh. In 1993, the Paladins lost to South Carolina 1-0 in a first round match. Current Paladin head coach Doug Allison was a member of the Gamecock coaching staff for that match. Since Allison's arrival in 1995, Furman has just barely missed an invitation to the tournament three times. In 1996, despite a final national ranking of 16th by Soccer America, Furman was left out of the field after losing to No. 2 UNCG 6-1 in an NCAA play-in game. In 1997, the Paladins were once again defeated in the play-in game as they dropped a 2-1 triple overtime decision to Charleston Southern. Last season, Furman finished with a 16-4-2 record, but a 1-0 loss to UNCG in the SoCon championship game ended the Paladins season.
FU-UNC CONNECTIONS...Furman head coach Doug Allison will be coaching in his third match against his former boss Elmar Bolowich. Allison spent the 1989 and 1990 seasons as an assistant coach under Bolowich at North Carolina. Furman has three players from the state of North Carolina on its roster. Starting sweeper Seth Maks is from Raleigh, Furman's all-time assist leader, Daniel Alvarez, is from Fayetteville, and starting defender John Bradford is from Winston-Salem.
SOCON CHAMPS...Furman concluded the Southern Conference regular season with a perfect 8-0 league record and swept three matches at the Southern Conference Tournament two weeks ago. In claiming the regular season title, the Paladins won their 14th SoCon championship in the last 17 years. The tournament championship was the eighth since 1988. Furman has posted an incredible 92-8 Southern Conference record since 1983. Since 1986, the Paladins have won either the regular season or the tournament every season.
HOME SWEET HOME...Furman has posted an 8-0-1 home record this season and since Doug Allison arrived at Furman, the Paladins are 45-5-2 at home for a .904 winning percentage.
HIGHEST RANKING EVER...Furman's final No. 3 national ranking is the highest ever for the Furman soccer program. Prior to this season, the highest national ranking achieved by the Furman soccer team was a 10th place showing in a 1996 Soccer America poll. Furman eclipsed that mark on October 18 of this season and has risen each week since. The Paladins finished 5th in the NSCAA poll. Furman soccer is no stranger to the top 25, though, as the Paladins have been ranked in the top 25 every season since 1996 and at some point during seven years this decade. Furman finished the season ranked 16th in Soccer America in 1996 and was ranked for seven weeks that season. The Paladins were ranked during three weeks of the 1997 season and nine weeks last year.
LONGEST WINNING STREAK...Furman has now won 12 matches in a row, which is the longest winning streak in school history. It is also currently the longest winning streak in the nation. The Paladins have not lost since October 3 when then second-ranked Santa Clara downed the Paladins 1-0 at Clemson. The previous longest winning streak of six matches occurred in 1986, 1996, and earlier this season. Furman's unbeaten streak is currently the fourth longest in the nation.
COMFORTABLE SITUATIONS...Remarkably, Furman has trailed in only 37 minutes this season. The only times the Paladins have been behind are the final 20 minutes of the Santa Clara match and a 17-minute span against Clemson, when Furman was down 1-0. Furman has played in 1,959 minutes, meaning that the Paladins have either been tied with or led their opponents 98.1% of the time this year.
ALLISON AMONG THE NATION'S BEST...Furman head coach Doug Allison is currently in his fifth season at Furman and has posted a 76-20-7 overall record. Allison's winning percentage of .772 is second-best among active Division I head coaches. He trails only Indiana's Jerry Yeagley.
Top Winning Percentage Active Head Coaches (11/8/99)
A SUCCESS AT ALL LEVELS...Furman is not the first place that Doug Allison has found success in the collegiate ranks. Allison, a native of Bath, England, came to the United States in 1984 to play soccer at the University of South Carolina. At USC, he led the Gamecocks to a combined 67-14-6 record and is still South Carolina's all-time leading scorer with 63 goals and 32 assists. Prior to taking the Furman job, Allison served as an assistant coach at both North Carolina and South Carolina. In seven seasons as an assistant, Allison's teams compiled a 95-38-12 record. Allison's combined college soccer record as a player, assistant coach, and head coach is 238-72-25 for a .748 winning percentage.
EXPERIENCE COUNTS...When Furman seniors Seth Marks and Stephen Rodriguez played in the SoCon semifinal match against College of Charleston, they set the Furman school record for matches played with 80. Marks and Rodriguez have now each played in 82 matches. Furman has a total of nine seniors on its 1999 roster. Other experienced Paladins include Graham Seagraves with 81 career matches, Daniel Alvarez (78), and Andy Foy (75). Over the last four years, this senior class holds a 65-15-4 record, the best four-year record in Furman soccer history.
THE KING OF ASSISTS...Furman senior Daniel Alvarez has taken down the Furman assist records this season. Midway through the season, Alvarez broke Furman's 12-year old career record with his assist in Furman's 1-0 win over Appalachian State. He surpassed Jeff Jones, who played on successful Furman teams from 1984-87. Alvarez now has 38 career assists. Alvarez' 13 assists this season sets the Furman single season record. Many of Alvarez' assists this season have come in unusual fashion -- on 35-yard throw-ins that are more dangerous than a typical corner kick. Alvarez currently ranks eighth in the nation in assists per match.
THE BERMUDA CONNECTION...The Paladin attack has once again been led by Bermuda's John Barry Nusum. Nusum, a sophomore from Devonshire, Bermuda, leads Furman with 14 goals and eight assists on the season. Last year, Nusum scored 10 goals and recorded 11 assists to lead the Paladins. Allison actually went on a recruiting trip to Bermuda, an infrequent stop for traditional soccer powers, and found the young, but powerful Nusum. Nusum, a husky 6-1, 185 lb forward, is only 18 years-old. Students graduate high school a year earlier in Bermuda than in the United States, thus Nusum is the normal age of a college freshman.
WAITING HIS TURN...The Furman coaching staff knew they had something special in goalkeeper Scott Blount when he arrived at Furman in 1997. Blount filled in for an injured Ronnie Pascale and performed admirably early in his freshman season. When Pascale returned, Blount as forced to wait his turn as the All-South keeper finished his career in strong fashion. This season, the job belongs solely to Blount and he has performed remarkably. Selected to the Soccer America Team-of-the-Week during the first week of the season, Blount currently has the eighth-best goals against average in the nation. Blount has allowed only 12 goals this season and has a goals against average of 0.59. Blount earned a redshirt last season, thus he currently holds sophomore status and should be a fixture in Furman's goal for the next two seasons.
QUICK STARTS...The Paladin soccer team has been a quick starter this season as they have outscored opponents 29-3 in the first half. The Paladins have never trailed at halftime and have led at the half in 16 of 21 matches this season. Furman has given new definition to the term quick start in two matches this season as the Paladins scored 16 seconds into the match against Wofford and 35 seconds into the match against The Citadel.
GREAT CROWDS...Furman's average home attendance this season is 1,330. In the 1998 attendance rankings, that would place 12th in the nation. Furman has benefited from two huge in-state rivalry battles this season as the Clemson match drew 2,852 fans and the South Carolina match drew 2,345 spectators.
TEAM D...Furman ranks 10th in the nation in team defense with a 0.643 team goals against average. Furman's defense has allowed only 14 goals this season and allowed two goals in a match only twice. Leading the way are goalkeeper Scott Blount, and sweeper Seth Marks, as well as Graham Seagraves, Jack Handy, John Bradford, and Matt Goldsmith.
NATIONAL STATS...Furman's ranks 16th in the nation in scoring with a 2.43 goals per match average. The Paladins rank 10th in team defense with a 0.643 team goals against average and second in winning percentage. Scott Blount and Daniel Alvarez both place eighth in the nation in their respective categories of goals against average and assists per match.
NATIONAL TEAM...Furman has six players on its team with some sort of national team experience. Headlining that list is current U.S. Under-20 National Team member Matt Goldsmith. Goldsmith took off Furman's winter and spring terms last year to travel to Nigeria to compete in the FIFA World Youth Championships. In addition to Goldsmith, John Bradford and Stephen Rodriguez were members of the Under-17 team. Scott Blount was invited to tryout for the U.S. Under-20 team. John Barry Nusum is a member of the Bermuda Under-23 National Team and Paul Leese advanced to the final round of tryouts for the Great Britain World University Games Team last summer.
REVERSING THOSE PLAY-IN BLUES...Furman reversed its NCAA Play-in game record with its 1-0 win over Radford. The Paladins are now 1-3 lifetime in play-in games.
TAKING DOWN THE BIG BOYS...In a four day span in late October, Furman athletic teams won key matches over Clemson, Iowa, and North Carolina. The men's soccer team defeated Clemson 3-2 on Oct. 27, then the women's soccer team downed #23 Iowa on Oct. 29, while the football team defeated North Carolina 28-3 on Oct. 30.
ELITE PROGRAMS..The combined records of the Furman men's and women's soccer programs is 39-4-1, the best combined record in the nation. The combined 39 wins is also the best in the country. The Furman women's team advanced to the NCAA Tournament and concluded their season 20-3. Santa Clara holds the next best record, with a combined 34-3-2 mark.
TRIPLE TITLE...While the Furman men's and women's soccer teams have already claimed the Southern Conference regular season and tournament titles, the Furman football team is also having a breakthrough season. The Paladins are currently one of three SoCon teams with one loss as Furman is 6-1 in the conference and 8-2 overall. Furman can clinch a share of the SoCon title with a win over Chattanooga Saturday.
PAST NCAA TOURNAMENT SUMMARIES
November 17, 1991 Furman 1, Wake Forest 0 (2OT)
Winston-Salem, N.C. -- Furman sophomore Ray Colado scored his first goal in almost two months as Furman defeated Wake Forest 1-0 in double overtime in the Paladins' first-ever NCAA Tournament match. With the win, the Paladins, ranked 13th nationally knocked off the South Region's number one seed and the seventh ranked team in the country. Colado's goal was scored at the 95:38 mark in the first overtime period. The Deacs outshot Furman 21-10 but could not capitalize on any of those chances. Furman improved its record to 15-4-1 overall.
Shots: WFU - 21, FU - 10
November 24, 1991 N.C. State 4, Furman 1
Raleigh, N.C. -- Furman's run in the NCAA Tournament was halted as the eighth ranked North Carolina State Wolfpack downed Furman 4-1 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. After holding only a 1-0 halftime lead, the Wolfpack trounced Furman in the second half as they opened a 4-0 lead. The Paladins were able to get on the board at the 88:05 mark as Chris Hass connected on an Andrew Zorovich, Robert Dee double assist. Furman concluded its best season to date, finishing 15-5-1 on the year.
Shots: NCSU - 25, FU - 10
November 14, 1993 South Carolina 1, Furman 0
Columbia, S.C. -- After 87 minutes of scoreless soccer, South Carolina's Stever Pier found the back of the net to give South Carolina a 1-0 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in front of 2,679 fans at the Graveyard in Columbia. The Paladins ended their season with a 12-6-1 record and saw their three game winning streak over South Carolina come to a halt. Current Furman head coach Doug Allison was an assistant coach on the Gamecock sideline.
Shots: USC - 14, FU - 6