October 11, 2000
SPARTANBURG -- The 14th ranked Furman men's soccer team defeated Southern Confernece foe Wofford 2-1 Wednesday night to improve its SoCon record to 5-0.
The Paladins jumped out to a 1-0 lead at the 21:41 mark in the first half as freshman Sergei Raad came off the bench to give Furman an immediate offensive spark. Raad checked into the match and 11 seconds later put the Paladins on top 1-0 off a give and go with senior Carl Junot.
Furman extended its lead to 2-0 at the 68:52 mark of the second half when All American Matt Goldsmith headed in an Anthony Esquivel pass in front of the mouth of the goal. The Paladins lead held at 2-0 until the Terriers scored with 1:24 remaining in the match to pull to within 2-1. Sean Whelan headed in a Michael Gonzalez corner kick for the goal.
"Wofford is a much improved team," said Furman head coach Doug Allison. "I am pleased to come away with a road conference win and to remain unbeaten in league play. We have three conference matches left and we will have to fight hard to win each one. I felt we knocked the ball around well today, but we are going to do a better job of finishing the rest of the season."
Furman controlled much of the match as the Paladins outshot the Terriers 17-7 and held a 9-2 advantage in corner kicks.
With the win, Furman improves to 11-2 on the season. Wofford falls to 3-8-2 overall. The Paladins are ranked 14th by Soccer America and 18th in the NCAA Division I Media Poll.
Furman travels to face arch-rival South Carolina on Sunday at 2 p.m. The match will feature two top 15 teams and will be Doug Allison's third homecoming match at his alma-mader, USC. Furman is 1-1 in matches in Columbia since Allison came to Furman.
Scoring:
Shots: Furman -- 17; Wofford -- 7.
Corner Kicks: Furman -- 9; Wofford --2 .
Saves: Furman -- 4; Wofford -- 6.
Fouls: Furman -- 7; Wofford -- 8.