Furman-Wake Forest Game Notes
THE GAME
Furman advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 2-1 double overtime win over North Carolina. The Paladins now hold the nation's best record at 20-1-1 and its winning streak of 13 matches is the longest in the nation. Furman is making its third NCAA Tournament appearance and its first since 1993. In 1991, Furman also advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Paladins are ranked third in the nation in the final Soccer America poll marking their highest-ever national ranking. Furman faces Wake Forest in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and the winner will face the winner of UConn and Yale.
HEAD COACH
Furman: Doug Allison (South Carolina '89)
Wake Forest: Jay Vidovich (Ohio Wesleyan '82)
FURMAN-WAKE FOREST SERIES
In a series that got its start in 1979 with a scoreless tie, the Paladins and Demon Deacons will renew a storied rivalry in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Wake Forest leads the all-time series with the Paladins 8-5-5, though Furman has a 5-2-2 advantage in the 1990s. Since Doug Allison's arrival in 1995, Furman has never lost to Wake Forest as the Paladins sport a 2-0-1 record over the last five seasons. Furman and Wake have met once in the NCAA Tournament, a 1-0 Paladin victory in 1991.
* - NCAA Tournament
In Greenville: Wake Forest leads 4-2-3
In Winston-Salem: Wake Forest leads 4-3-2
WAKE FOREST
Wake Forest enters this week's match with a 13-2-5 overall record after defeating Virginia Commonwealth 2-1 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Deacons' Ben Stafford broke a 1-1 tie in the 70th minute to give Wake Forest the victory. Wake Forest finished third in the ACC with a 2-1-3 league mark. After starting the season 11-0-5, Wake is 2-2 in its last four matches. The Deacons are led by Chris Lonteen with seven goals and six assists, while nine players have scored three or more goals this year and six players have 10 or more points. Furman and Wake Forest have played seven common opponents this season. Both teams tied South Carolina, while both defeated College of Charleston, Davidson, UNCG, and Radford. Furman defeated Clemson and North Carolina this season, while Wake tied UNC and lost to Clemson.
FURMAN-WAKE FOREST LAST MEETING
Furman 2, Wake Forest 0 (10/4/97) Brent Rosser scored one goal and assisted on another to lead the Paladins to a 2-0 victory over Wake Forest at Spry Stadium. Rosser got Furman on the board early in the game when he put a header into the net off a corner kick from teammate Todd Jackson and a pass from Pete Santora at 2:03. In the second half, Rosser sent a lead pass to Carl Junot who beat Wake Forest goalkeeper Sean Conner one-on-one to score at 58:37. Furman keeper Ronnie Pascale made six saves to record the shutout.
THE LAST MATCH
Furman 2, North Carolina 1 (2OT)
Carl Junotıs goal at the 108:50 mark in the second overtime vaulted the 3rd ranked Paladins to a 2-1 victory over North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA Menıs College Cup at Eugene Stone Soccer Stadium.
The game-winner was set up as John Bradford sent a corner kick to the near post. The ball was low, thus Junot was forced to duck down as he headed the ball off the side of his head and off the chest of North Carolina keeper William Woodruff and into the goal. The first half of the match was dominated by the Tar Heels as North Carolina outshot Furman 9-1, but was unable to score as the Furman defense led by goalkeeper Scott Blount played remarkably.
Furman settled down in the second half and took the 1-0 lead at the 70:12 mark. SoCon player-of-the-year Daniel Alvarez tossed one of his trademark 35-foot throw-ins to Carl Junot, who tapped the ball to John Barry Nusum. Nusum then knocked in his team leading 15th goal of the season. Furman held the 1-0 lead for seven minutes before the Tar Heels evened the score. The equalizing play started as Joey DiSalva knocked a free kick to Jon Wean, who passed again to Chris Leitch, who rifled the ball to lower corner of the goal. The goal was Leitchıs first career goal.
The remainder of regulation and the first overtime period remained scoreless until Junotıs game-winner. UNC senior goalkeeper William Woodruff saw his first action of the season as he checked into the match in the 76 minute mark for starter Michael Ueltschey and played in the goal for the remaining of the match.
NOTING THE PALADINS
THE BIG DANCE...After three years of falling just short of the NCAA Tournament, the Furman Paladins are making their first appearance in the tournament since 1993 and third overall. Furman's berth in the second round matches the farthest Furman has advanced in the NCAA Tournament as the Paladins advanced to the second round in 1991. 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.
TOPS IN THE COUNTRY...Furman currently has the nation's best record at 20-1-1 and is the only team in the country to have 20 wins. The Paladins have won 13 matches in a row, the longest winning streak in the country. The Paladins have not lost since October 3 when then second-ranked Santa Clara downed the Paladins 1-0 at Clemson. Furman's previous longest winning streak of six matches occurred in 1986, 1996, and earlier this season. Furman's unbeaten streak is currently the second longest in the nation.
FURMAN AND THE ACC...Furman's 2-1 double overtime win over North Carolina improved Furman's 1999 ACC record to 2-0. Earlier this season, the Paladins defeated Clemson 3-2 in overtime. Over the last five season, since Doug Allison's arrival at Furman, the Paladins are 6-4-1 against Atlantic Coast Conference competition. In that time span, the Paladins are 2-2 against Clemson, 2-0-1 against Wake Forest, 2-1 against North Carolina, and 0-1 against Duke.
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 2,068 minutes, meaning that the Paladins have either been tied with or led their opponents 98.2% of the time this year.
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. 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.
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.
ALLISON AMONG THE NATION'S BEST...Furman head coach Doug Allison is currently in his fifth season at Furman and has posted a 77-20-7 overall record. Allison's winning percentage of .774 is second-best among active Division I head coaches. He trails only Indiana's Jerry Yeagley.
Top Winning Percentage Active Head Coaches
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 239-72-25 for a .749 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 83 matches. Furman has a total of nine seniors on its 1999 roster. Other experienced Paladins include Graham Seagraves with 82 career matches, Daniel Alvarez (79), and Andy Foy (76). Over the last four years, this senior class holds a 66-15-4 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 39 career assists. Alvarez' 14 assists this season sets the Furman single season record. Many of Alvarez' assists this season have come in unusual fasherous than a typical corner kick. Alvarez currently ranks seventh in the nation in assists per match and third in the nation in assists.
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 15 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. Nusum's 15 goal performance this season is good for fourth place on Furman's single season goals chart. Nusum now has 25 career goals, which places him eighth on Furman's all-time scoring chart and his 69 career points places ninth.
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 was 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 12th-best goals against average in the nation. He has allowed only 13 goals this season and has a goals against average of 0.60. 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.
WELCOMED RETURN...Furman welcomed the return of senior midfielder Paul Leese against North Carolina. Leese, one of Furman's top playmakers in the middle, had not played since the Clemson match on October 27 with a strained abdominal muscle. Though he did not start, Leese played significant minutes vs. UNC and added an extra dimension that had been missing in his absence.
A HEALTHY YEAR...All Carl Junot needed to show his potential was a full, healthy season. Junot, a forward from San Antonio, Texas, had a strong freshman year in 1997 with six goals, despite missing close to half the season with a hamstring injury. He was named second team All-Southern Confernce in '97, but injuries limited his production. Last season, Junot played even less as he saw action in only seven matches with more leg injuries. This season, though, Junot has put together a full season and has scored six goals and recorded eight assists as the Paladins' second leading scorer. Junot earned all-tournament team honors and later recorded the winning goal and an assist in Furman's 2-1 double overtime win over UNC in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
GOLDEN GOAL...Furman holds a 4-0-1 overtime record this season as the Paladins have defeated UAB, College of Charleston, Clemson, and North Carolina in overtime and tied South Carolina. Matt Goldsmith, Jody Keeling, Andy Foy, and Carl Junot have each scored an overtime game-winner this season.
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 22 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 1,313. 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 11th in the nation in team defense with a 0.653 team goals against average. Furman's defense has allowed only 15 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 ranks 18th in the nation in scoring with a 2.41 goals per match average. The Paladins rank 11th in team defense with a 0.65 team goals against average and first in winning percentage. Scott Blount and Daniel Alvarez place 12th and seventh 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.
HOME SWEET HOME...Furman has posted an 9-0-1 home record this season and since Doug Allison arrived at Furman, the Paladins are 46-5-2 at home for a .887 winning percentage. Though Furman is on the road this week, they could have one more home match this season. If Furman wins against Wake Forest and Yale defeats UConn, there is as good chance the quarterfinal match would be at Furman. All location decisions will be made late Sunday night when the national committee meets.
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...Furman athletic teams claim a 2-0 record over North Carolina this fall as both the football and men's soccer teams knocked off its more well-known neighbors to the north. 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 40-4-1, the best combined record in the nation. The combined 40 wins is also the best in the country as both the men's and women's soccer teams have won 20 matches. 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 35-3-3 mark.
TRIPLE TITLE...For the first time in school history, three fall sports claimed the Southern Conference championship. The men's soccer team breezed through the league with an 8-0 record and the tournament championship. The women's soccer team finished 9-0 in the league and won the tournament. The football team finished 7-1 to win the SoCon title. The Paladins host UMass Saturday at 1 p.m. in the first round of the I-AA playoffs.
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.
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.
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.