November 18, 2001
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - Junior Anthony Esquivel came off the bench to score two goals in the final 27 minutes to lift the 18th ranked Paladins to a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over UNCG in the championship match of the 2001 Gift of Life/Southern Conference Men's Soccer Championship.
With the win, Furman earns the Southern Conference's automtic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Paladins will be making their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance and their fifth overall.
Trailing 1-0 midway through the first half , Esquivel checked into the match and seven minutes later evened the count at 1-1 at the 63:11 mark. Clint Hill fed Matt Foxhall down the center of the field, who in turn dished to Esquivel. Esquivel turned on his defender and shot far post past UNCG keeper Joe Crump from 15 yards out.
The match remained tied 1-1 until Esquivel's second dose of heroics. After checking back out of the match, Esquivel reentered in the 83rd minute and scored the game-winner with 1:19 left to play. The play was set up as freshman Asgeir Asgeirsson raced down the right sideline and dished to Esquivel. Attacking the goal from the right side, Esquivel beat one Spartan defender and slotted the ball far post to win the match.
The Spartans went on top early as Alejandro Moreno scored at the 10:01 mark. UNCG outplayed Furman most of the first half as the Paladins were sloppy.
"This was a great win over a strong UNCG team," said Furman head coach Doug Allison. "I was not pleased with our first half performance today, but we showed a lot of heart by coming back to win. Anthony Esquivel was incredible today."
Esquivel was selected as the Southern Conference Tournament Most Outstanding Player as he scored three goals in the tournament, including one in Furman's 3-0 quarterfinal win over Wofford. Andy Kidd, Kenneth Penn, and Patrick Tanner were also selected to the all-tournament squad. Tanner notched the game-winners in Furman's first two wins.
With the victory, Furman extends its conference match unbeaten streak to 33 matches, the fourth longest streak in NCAA Divison I history. Furman claims its third straight Southern Conference Tournament title and its tenth overall since 1988.
Furman improves to 17-4 on the season, while UNCG falls to 13-8. Furman has now defeated UNCG five straight times and now owns a 6-4 all-time advantage over the Spartans.
Furman will learn its NCAA Tournament fate Monday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. The selection is televised on Fox Sports South.
Scoring:
Shots: FU - 17; UNCG - 11
Corner Kicks: FU - 4; UNCG - 11
Saves: FU - 4; UNCG - 4
Fouls: FU - 15; UNCG - 19