November 19, 2001

FURMAN TO PLAY UAB IN NCAA FIRST ROUND

GREENVILLE, SC -- The Furman men's soccer team will face UAB in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night in Columbia, SC, the NCAA announced today.

Furman and UAB will square off at 7:00 p.m. at the University of South Carolina¹s Eugene Stone Soccer Stadium. South Carolina will host the winner on Sunday afternoon. The winner of that site will play the winner from Clemson¹s site, which also includes Kentucky and Mercer.

Furman and UAB met earlier this year in Birmingham, with UAB downing Furman 2-1. Furman enters the tournament 17-4 on the season. Ironically, all four of Furman's 2001 losses (Clemson, South Carolina, UAB, Kentucky) came to teams in its immediate bracket.

"I am looking forward to getting a chance to play a quality UAB team again," said Furman head coach Doug Allison. "This is tournament time and we will see what this team is made of."

Furman is making its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance and its fifth overall. The Paladins lost in the first round last season at Clemson and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament in 1999.