THE GAME
Furman enters the Southern Conference Tournament as the No. 1 seed. The Paladins will play the winner of The Citadel vs Wofford match in the first round and then battle the winner of UNCG and the College of Charleston in the semifinals if it gets past the first round. Furman has won the Southern Confernce Tournament eight times since 1988 and have won it three of the last four years. The Paladins have advanced to the championship match for seven straight years (since 1993).
HEAD COACH
Doug Allison (South Carolina '89)
NOTING THE PALADINS
CHAMPS AGAIN..."Furman Men's Soccer Wins The Southern Conference Title" has become a common phrase over the last decade and a half. Furman claimed the SoCon regular season title this season with a perfect 9-0 league mark for the second consecutive year. Since 1990, Furman has won the Southern Conference title every year except 1997, a year that they did win the SoCon Tournament title. Furman has posted an incredible 100-8 Southern Conference regular season record since 1983. Since 1986, the Paladins have won either the regular season or the tournament every season.
19 IN A ROW...Furman has currently won 19 straight Southern Conference matches dating back to the start of the 1999 season. That streak ranks second behind only Indiana among active conference winning streaks and ranks sixth all-time. Furman appears three times on the NCAA Consecutive Conference Wins chart with this 19 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.
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 win the conference tournament and then defeat the champion of the Big South Tournament in a play-in match. 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.
RADIO/TV...For the second time in school history, the Furman soccer team has a chance to have its match televised. The Comcast cable network will televise the Southern Conference men's and women's soccer championship matches on Sunday. Comcast can be seen on channel 73 in Greenville. Furman is also planning a radio broadcast of the men's and women's championship matches, assuming either or both teams make the championship match. Furman SID's Chris Colvin and Rob Warren will provide play-by-play while former men's soccer standout Paul Leese will provide color commentary.
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 four contests, totaling 86 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, and trailed for three minutes against VMI before winning 7-1. In Furman's last 4,305 minutes dating back to the start of the 1999 season, the Paladins have trailed in only 131 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 17th in Soccer America, 12th in the NCAA Division I media poll, 21st by Soccer Times, and is receiving votes in the NSCAA poll.
STINGY EARLY...Probably the most remarkable stat about the 2000 Furman soccer team is its first half defense. Through their 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. The Paladins have allowed 15 goals this season, with only one coming in the first half. The Paladins have recorded eight 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 92-24-8 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 (10/28/00)
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 241-72-25 for a .749 winning percentage.
NATIONAL POWER...Since Allison's arrival at Furman, the Paladins have posted a 92-24-8 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, leads Furman with 13 goals and 10 assists on the season. 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. Nusum's 13 goal performance this season is good for ninth place on Furman's single season goals chart, while his 36 points places him fifth on the Paladins' single season points chart. Nusum now has 40 career goals, which places him third on Furman's all-time scoring chart, his 30 assists place him third, and his 110 career points places second.
Furman Career Points Leaders
Player Year G A P
Furman Career Goals Leader
Player Year Goals
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 0.83 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. Junot is listed as questionable this weekend with an ankle injury.
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 seven goals and eight assists for 22 points, while Patrick Tanner is third in points with nine goals and three assists for 21 points. McNeil Cronin has started for Furman at sweeper this year and leads the team in assists with 10. 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.
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.
TEAM D...Furman ranks 12th in the nation in team defense with a 0.80 team goals against average. Furman's defense has allowed only 16 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...Furman ranks 4th in the nation in scoring with a 3.28 goals per match average. The Paladins rank 12th in team defense with a 0.80 team goals against average, 12th in winning percentage, and 19th in shutout percentage. John Barry Nusum ranks 20th in points per match with 36 points in 17 contests and 20th in assists per match with 10 assists in 17 matches.
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)
ELITE PROGRAMS...For the second straight season, the combined record of the Furman men's and women's soccer teams is the best in the nation. The Furman men are 13-3-1, while the Furman women are 18-1. Clemson, just a 45 minute ride from Furman, has the second best combined record in the nation, tied with North Carolina.
School Men Women Total .Pct