October 13, 2000
GREENVILLE -- The Furman and South Carolina men's soccer teams will meet Sunday afternoon in Columbia to write the latest installment of what has become a heated, intense in-state rivalry. The match is slated for 2 p.m.
The Furman-USC rivalry has reached new levels since 1994 when Doug Allison took over as head coach at Furman. Allison is South Carolina's all-time leading scorer with 63 goals and 32 assists over his carerer from 1984-87. He later served as an assistant coach with the Gamecocks from 1991-94.
Since arriving at Furman, Allison has tallied an impressive 89-23-7 record as he places second among active Division I coaches in winning percentage. Mark Berson, head coach of South Carolinašs menšs soccer team for 24 years, ranks eighth. Over that same time span, the Paladins hold the fourth best winning percentage in the nation. Against his former mentor, Allison is 1-3-1, with a 1-1 record in Columbia.
"The South Carolina match always means a lot to me personally," said Allison. "But more importantly, this is a huge match for our team this season. We need to reestablish ourselves as a top ten program and a win at South Carolina would do that. It is also a crucial match for NCAA Tournament purposes."
Furman enters the contest 11-2 and ranked 14th by Soccer America and 18th in the Division I Media poll. South Carolina is 8-1-2 and ranked 10th by Soccer America and sixth in the media poll. The Gamecocks are coming off a scoreless tie with ninth ranked Clemson.
Furman holds the nationšs most potent offense, as the Paladins entered the week first in the nation with a 3.67 goals per match average. All American John Barry Nusum leads Furman in scoring with 10 goals and six assists in 11 matches. Furmanšs offensive attack, which has not been shutout all season, will be challenged by a Gamecock defense that has not allowed a goal in over three matches, a stretch of over 300 minutes.
Last season, Furman and USC played to a 1-1 tie in Greenville, while USC topped Furman 1-0 in Columbia in 1998.