September 25, 2001
MT. PLEASANT, SC -- Furman head coach Doug Allison claimed his 100th career victory tonight as the fourth ranked Furman Paladin men's soccer team defeated College of Charleston 4-0 at Patriot's Point. Allison is currently ranked second in winning percentage among active coaches in the nation with a 100-25-9 career mark.
"I've had a great opportunity here at Furman," said head coach Doug Allison. "I've been very fortunate to have excellent players who have come together to form some great teams."
Furman opened the scoring early against Charleston as sophomore Patrick Tanner scored his first goal of the season in the fifth minute of play. Asgeir Asgeirsson beat a defender and took the ball from the wing into the penalty area. Asgeirsson's shot was deflected to Tanner who knocked home the rebound and gave Furman a 1-0 lead.
Sergei Raad made the score 2-0 just five minutes later. Asgeirsson sent in a Paladin corner kick that bounded around in the box. After efforts from Tanner and John Barry Nusum, Raad finally collected the ball and placed it past Charleston goalkeeper Wes Martino. Clint Dempsey closed out the first half scoring by adding his first collegiate goal off a Sergei Raad assist. Raad beat a defender just outside of the penalty box, passed it off to Dempsey, who slid the ball into the back of the net for a 3-0 lead.
John Barry Nusum, recently named Southern Conference Player-of-the-Week, picked up where he left off last weekend by making the score 4-0 early in the second half. Nusum intercepted a pass from a Cougar defender, beat the remaining Charleston defenders with the dribble, and finally nailed a shot past reserve goalkeeper Chris Simpson.
"I'm extremely proud of the way our guys took their chances tonight," added Allison. "Charleston is always a very physical and tough team. It was good to come down here and get an impressive win, and it gives us the momentum we want going into the Clemson tournament."
Furman improves to 5-0 on the season and 2-0 in the Southern Conference with a win in an extrememly physical contest that produced 41 fouls and two yellow cards.
Furman will return to the upstate this weekend to participate in the Nike/Clemson Soccer Invitational at historic Riggs Field. The Paladins will take on Virginia Commonwealth on Friday at 5:00 and then Cal-Poly on Sunday at 12:30.
Scoring:
Shots: FU -18 CofC - 7
Corner Kicks: FU - 6, CofC - 2
Saves: FU -3 , CofC - 1
Fouls: FU -20 , CofC - 21