October 30, 2002
STATESBORO, GA -- Anthony Esquivel netted his team-leading ninth goal of the season on a penalty kick at the 20:21 mark to lift tenth-ranked Furman over Georgia Southern 1-0 on Wednesday afternoon.
The play was set up as Esquivel was taken down inside the box after making a run up the right side of the filed. Esquivel then beat Georgia Southern goalkeeper Kirk Latibeaudiere for the only score of the match.
Georgia Southern, who played a man down for the last 25 minutes of the match after Eric Douglas was sent off, had a chance to tie in the 88th minute of play, but an Isaac Payne header was directed wide by Furman goalkeeper Alex Maslow.
Furman outshot the Eagles 18-9 but was only able to find the net once. Maslow made five saves to record his fifth shutout of the season.
"This was a good road win for our team," said head coach Doug Allison. "Our defense has been playing great recently, and helped us to a win today."
Furman extends its Southern Conference unbeaten streak to 39-matches, which moves the Paladins into second place all-time, passing Indianašs Big 10 38-match unbeaten streak from 1995-2000. The Paladins are now only three matches from tying Clemsonšs all-time record of 42 matches.
Furman has now recorded five consecutive shutouts, tying the Furman record set in 1983 and 1991. The Paladins have not been scored on since October 5 against St. Louis at the 32:01 mark, a streak of 508 minutes. The Furman record for most consecutive shutout minutes is 565 set in 1991.
With the win, Furman improves to 13-2-1, 6-0 in the Southern Conference. Georgia Southern falls to 2-12-2 overall, 1-4-2 in conference play.
Furman returns to action on Saturday as it travels to face VMI at 11 a.m.
Scoring Summary:
Shots: FU - 18; GSU - 9
Saves: FU - 5; GSU - 10
Corner Kicks: FU - 2; GSU - 4
Fouls: FU - 14; GSU - 15