THE GAME
Furman will take on Radford at 1:00 p.m. Sunday in an NCAA play-in match. The winner of the match will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. This is the second straight year that Furman and Radford have met in an NCAA Play-In match.
Furman enters the NCAA Play-In Match ranked in all four national polls, including a 12th place showing in the NCAA Division I media poll. The Paladins advanced to the play-in match by winning the Southern Conference Tournament title last weekend. Radford is 12-9 and fresh off winning the Big South Championship. The Highlanders were the No. 2 seed in the tournament and defeated UNCA and High Point in overtime before downing Elon in the Big South final 2-0.
HEAD COACH
Furman: Doug Allison (South Carolina '89)
Radford: Spencer Smith (Tennessee '87)
THE SERIES
This will be the second ever meeting between Furman and Radford, both in NCAA play-in matches. Last season, the fourth ranked Paladins downed Radford 1-0 to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Matt Goldsmith scored the game-winner early in the second half to give the Paladins the 1-0 victory.
2000 SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Furman (16-3-2, 8-0 SoCon)
Radford (12-9, 8-0 SoCon)
SCOUTING RADFORD
Radford has won six of its last seven matches and holds a 12-9 overall mark. The Highlanders finished 4-3 in the Big South and was the second seed in the Big South Tournament. Radford has been a streaky team this year as they started 3-1 and have finished 6-1. In between they posted a 3-7 record. Furman and Radford have played two common opponents: Elon and UNCG. Furman defeated Elon 2-0 and UNCG 3-1, while Radford is 1-2 against the Spartans and Phoenix. Elon lost 1-0 to UNCG and split two matches with Elon. Elon does claim a win over preseason No. 1 and then-No. 5 Duke 3-2 on September 27.
NOTING THE PALADINS
CHAMPS AGAIN...For the second straight year, Furman has claimed the Southern Conference regular season and tournament titles. Furman claimed the SoCon regular season title this season with a perfect 9-0 league mark for the second consecutive year. In claiming the regular season title, the Paladins won their 15th SoCon championship in the last 18 years and their tournament title was the ninth in the last 13 years. Since 1990, Furman has won the Southern Conference regular season title every year except 1997, a year that they did win the SoCon Tournament title. Since 1986, the Paladins have won either the regular season or the tournament every season. Furman has posted an incredible 100-8 Southern Conference regular season record since 1983.
THE BIG DANCE...Furman will try to make its second straight NCAA Tournament appearance this season. In order to be guaranteed a bid, the Paladins must defeat Radford. Last year, Furman advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament with wins over North Carolina (2-1 in OT) and Wake Forest (4-0) before falling to Connecticut (3-2). Furman's first ever NCAA Tournament appearance came in 1991 where the Paladins downed Wake Forest 1-0 before falling to N.C. State 4-1. Then in 1993, Furman received a bid and lost to South Carolina 1-0. Combined, Furman has a 3-3 record in the NCAA Tournament and have outscored their opponents 10-9.
REVERSING THOSE PLAY-IN BLUES... Furman will hope to make it two play-in match victories in a row this year. The Paladins' 1-0 victory over Radford in the 1999 play-in match broke a three match skid in play-in matches and improved Furman's record in such matches to 1-3. Furman lost to UNCG 2-1 in 1994 and 7-1 in 1996, while it lost to Charleston Southern 2-1 in 1997.
COMFORTABLE SITUATIONS...While it is not as impressive as last year's stat where Furman only trailed for 45 minutes all season, this year's squad has only trailed in five contests, totaling 95 minutes. Furman went down 1-0 to UNCG, but five minutes later scored the equalizer and won 3-1. Furman trailed for much of the second half against Stetson before losing 3-2, trailed for 43 minutes in the Clemson match before falling 2-0, trailed for three minutes against VMI before winning 7-1, and for nine minutes against College of Charleston. In Furman's last 4,515 minutes dating back to the start of the 1999 season, the Paladins have trailed in only 140 of those, a remarkable three percent.
STEADY TOP 25...Furman has been a consistent member of the national top 25 polls this season. The Paladins have been ranked fifth in the NSCAA and media polls, while their peak in Soccer America is sixth. Furman is currently ranked 15th in Soccer America, 12th in the NCAA Division I media poll, 19th by Soccer Times, and 23rd the NSCAA poll. 4 STINGY EARLY...Furman has been incredibly stingy in the first half of matches this year. Through its first 17 contests, Furman had not allowed a first half goal. VMI scored the first first half goal against the Paladins on October 29, but Furman went on to win 7-1. Furman allowed another first half goal in the SoCon semifinal over College of Charleston. The Paladins have allowed 17 goals this season, with only two coming in the first half. The Paladins have recorded nine shutouts this season.
SHUTOUT STREAKS...Furman has had three impressive consecutive shutout streaks this season. The Paladins opened the season with 339 scoreless minutes before UNCG scored in the second half of the fourth match of the season. Furman posted 288 consecutive scoreless minutes from September 29-October 8 and another 286 from October 15 to October 25.
ALLISON AMONG THE NATION'S BEST...Furman head coach Doug Allison is currently in his sixth season at Furman and has posted a 94-24-8 overall record. Allison's winning percentage of .776 is second-best among active Division I head coaches. He trails only Indiana's Jerry Yeagley.
Top Winning Percentage Active Head Coaches (11/4/00)
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 242-72-26 for a .751 winning percentage.
NATIONAL POWER...Since Allison's arrival at Furman, the Paladins have posted a 94-24-9 record, the fourth best record in the nation over that time span.
Best Winning Percentage Since 1995
TALENTED COACHES...While Furman has lots of talent on the field, it also has accumulated a good bit of talent on the sideline with the coaching staff. Head coach Doug Allison is the all-time leading scorer in South Carolina history and is arguably the greatest soccer player in USC history. Assistant coach Ryan Higginbotham scored 36 goals in four seasons at Furman and ranks fourth in career goals for the Paladins. Ronnie Pascale, a current A-League goalkeeper has returned to Greenville to join the coaching staff. Pascale is one of Furman's all-time great goalkeepers and volunteer assistant coach Charlie Arndt played at South Carolina with Allison and is arguably the greatest goalkeeper in USC history as he was the 1988 national goalkeeper of the year.
THE BERMUDA CONNECTION...The Paladin attack has once again been led by Bermuda's John Barry Nusum. Nusum, a junior from Devonshire, Bermuda, became Furman's all-time leader in career points in the Southern Conference Tournament final. He has scored 44 goals and recorded 32 assists over his three-year career for 120 points. What makes this record remarkable, is Nusum has done it in just under three years, while no Paladin in history has scored 120 points in a four year career. Nusum leads Furman again this season with 17 goals and 12 assists for 46 points, a new Furman single season record. Last year, Nusum scored 17 goals and recorded nine 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 19 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 sophomore. In addition to holding the career and single season points records, Nusum places fourth on the single season goal chart with 17 and third on the single season assist chart with 12. Nusum ranks second in career goals with 44 and third in carer assists with 32.
Furman Career Points Leaders Player
Furman Career Goals Leader
Furman Career Assists Leader
Furman Single Season Points
Furman Single Season Goals Leader
Furman Single Season Assists Leader
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. For the second straight season, the job belongs solely to Blount and he has performed remarkably over that time. Blount finished last season with a 0.68 goals against average and has a 0.80 goals against average this season. Blount also serves as one of two captains on this team.
CAPTAIN... Not only has senior Carl Junot taken on new responsibilities as captain this season, he has been forced to adapt to a new position, center midfield. Junot has performed well with four goals and six assists on the seaosn. The 1999 season was Junot's break-through year after two injury plagued seasons. Junot earned all-SoCon 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. Junot also had a goal and an assist against Wake Forest and is the Paladins' second leading NCAA Tournament scorer
FRESHMEN...With the loss of nine seniors from Furman's record setting 1999 team, the Paladins have been forced to rely on several freshman this year. Four freshmen, in particular, have made strong impacts as starters. Sergei Raad is second on the team with eight goals and nine assists for 25 points, while Patrick Tanner is third in points with ten goals and three assists for 23 points. McNeil Cronin has started for Furman at sweeper this year and leads the team in assists with 12. Defender Kenneth Penn has also found a starting spot this year.
RUSSIAN CONNECTION... Though his hometown is listed as Chuluota, Florida, Raad is a native of St. Petersburg, Russia. Raad was born Sergei Kolomeits and was adopted by the Raad family after coming to Florida with a Russian soccer team.
OOOO-KLAHOMA!!!...It seems Doug Allison has a pipeline to Oklahoma as four Paladins call Oklahoma home. Clint Hill (Tulsa) and John Michael Waite (Tulsa) led the way as freshman in 1999 and Patrick Tanner (Norman) joined them this year, as did transfer Ted Figard (Bartlesville). All four players played together before coming to Furman and have played together at the same time several times this year. At least one time this season, the four Oklahomans made up Furman's midfield.
OFFENSIVE POWER...Furman currently holds the nation's second most potent offense as Furman has scored 72 goals this season for an average of 3.43 goals per match. That trails only SMU with 74 goals in 20 matches. Four of the top five scoring teams in the country are from the Carolinas.
Top Scoring Offense
TEAM D...Furman is ranked 10th in the nation in team defense with a 0.77 team goals against average. Furman's defense has allowed only 17 goals this season and allowed two or more goals in a match only three times. Leading the way are goalkeeper Scott Blount, and sweeper McNeil Cronin, as well as Moffat Odour, Jack Handy, and Kenneth Penn.
NATIONAL STATS...In addition to being ranked second in offense and 10th in defense, the Paladins place 10th in the nation in winning percentage. Individually, John Barry Nusum is fifth in points per match and third in total points. He ranks 17th in the nation in goals per match and 12th in assists per match. Freshman McNeil Cronin ranks 11th in the nation in assists per match, while goalkeeper Scott Blount is 14th in goals against average.
NATIONAL TEAM...Furman has five players on its team with some sort of national team experience. John Barry Nusum is a member of the Bermuda national team and he played with Bermuda last spring in World Cup and Olympic qualifying. Alex Pereira is a member of the Puerto Rican national team and he competed with Puerto Rico in World Cup qualifying last spring. Matt Goldsmith was a member of the U.S. Under-20 National Team in the spring of 1999. Goldsmith took off Furman's winter and spring terms as a freshman to travel to Nigeria to compete in the FIFA World Youth Championships. Moffat Oduor was a member of the Kenyan Under-20 national team before coming to the United States three years ago. Scott Blount was invited to tryout for the U.S. Under-20 team after his freshman year, but was unable to attend due to an injury.
SOUTHERN CONNECTION...The Furman men's soccer team is comprised of an array of talent from throughout the Southeast plus several from a bit farther... Home States (24 man roster)
ALL SOCON...Furman dominated the All-Southern Conference teams as the Paladins placed five players in first team and two on the second team. John Barry Nusum, Matt Goldsmith, and Scott Blount all repeated as first team picks. Freshman-of-the-Year McNeil Cronin and senior Carl Junot also made the first team. Junior defender Jack Handy and freshman Patrick Tanner were second team selections.
22 STRAIGHT...Furman will not play another Southern Conference school this year, but will bring a 22 match unbeaten streak into the 2001 season. Furman's streak dates back to the start of the 1999 season. Furman's streak of 20 consecutive wins was halted with its tie vs. College of Charleston. That streak ranked second behind only Indiana among active conference winning streaks and ranks fifth all-time. Furman appears three times on the NCAA Consecutive Conference Wins chart with this 20 win streak, a 15 match winning streak fron 1982-1984 and a 14 match streak from 1991-1992. Appalachian State, a Southern Conference team, tops the chart with 35 straight wins from 1977 to 1982.
ELITE PROGRAMS...For the second straight season, the combined record of the Furman men's and women's soccer teams is one of the best in the nation. Last season, their combined record was tops in the country, this season it is second behind North Carolina. The Furman men are 16-3-2, while the Furman women finished the season 20-3. Clemson, just a 45 minute ride from Furman, has the third best combined record in the nation, thus the top three overall soccer programs in the country, in terms of winning percentage, are in the Carolinas.
Best Combined Winning Percentage in D-I
School Men Women Total .Pct