September 1, 2000
GREENVILLE -- The fifth ranked Furman men's soccer team slipped past a feisty Georgia State team 1-0 in overtime in its season opener Friday at Eugene Stone Soccer Stadium.
After 101 minutes of scoreless soccer, junior All American Matt Goldsmith knocked in a John Michael Waite cross to finish off the Panthers. The play was set up as Clint Hill fed Waite down the right corner of the field and a charging Waite crossed to the mouth of the goal where Goldsmith finished the play.
The match was an aggressive, sometimes sloppy opener for the Paladins, a consensus top ten team. A total of nine yellow cards and four red cards were issued in the match. Furman went down a man at the 48:13 mark as Carl Junot was ejected after his second yellow card.
Georgia State then proceeded to have three players red carded in the next 27 minutes as the match finished with ten Paladins and eight Panthers on the field. Georgia State packed it in defensively late in the match, but held the Paladins without a goal for 25 minutes after falling to eight players. Furman attempted 27 shots on the match to Georgia Statešs six.
Both goalkeepers came up with big plays as Furman keeper Scott Blount saved a Georgia State penalty kick late in the first half. Georgia State keeper Darren McKune also saved a second half penalty kick and made eight saves on the match as he faced 27 shots.
"I am glad to come away with a victory," said Furman head coach Doug Allison. "We are going to have to start playing a lot better if we want to have another strong season. Georgia State played very well today."
Furman improves to 1-0 and will face Elon on Wednesday, September 6 at 4 p.m. on the road. Georgia State falls to 0-1 and travels to face Coastal Carolina on Sunday.
Scoring:
Shots: Furman -- 27; GST -- 6.
Corner Kicks: Furman -- 14; GST -- 4.
Saves: Furman -- 8; GST -- 2.
Fouls: Furman -- 12; GST -- 8.