September 21, 2002
GREENVILLE -- Anthony Esquivel scored in overtime to vault the 13th ranked Furman men's soccer team to a 4-3 overtime victory over Southern Conference rival UNCG 4-3 on Saturday night at Eugene Stone Soccer Stadium.
With the win, Furman extends its conference unbeaten streak to 35 matches and ties the Southern Conference record set by Appalachian State from 1977-1982. Furman's current streak is the third longest in NCAA history. The Paladins have now defeated the Spartans six straight times and have won eight of the last nine in the series.
For Esquivel it was his second straight game-winner vs. UNCG as he scored twice in the last 30 minutes of the 2001 SoCon Final to beat the Spartans 2-1.
UNCG got on board first at the 26:35 mark of the first half as Svafnir Gislason scored off an assist from Chris Goos. The Spartans nearly took a 2-0 lead into intermission, but Furman defender Andy Kidd's backsave off a Kenny Bundy shot kept the score 1-0.
Furman opened the second half with more explosion and evened the count when Gray Griffin headed in a Chefik Simo corner kick at the 51:33 mark. Furman took the lead 2-1 seven minutes later as Clint Dempsey knocked in a deflected Scott Hoch shot from 18 yards out.
UNCG responded with the tying goal less that two minutes later as Kenny Bundy headed in a Chris Goos corner kick at the 60:15 mark.
Furman's Ricardo Clark put Furman back on top 3-2 at the 71:45 mark with a header off a Chefik Simo corner kick. As the Paladins were trying to preserve the lead and the win, UNCG kept the pressure on. Furman goalkeeper Alex Maslow made a great save on a point blank Egill Atlason shot with 14 minutes remaining, but the Paladins were not able to hold the lead much longer as Cliff Patterson evened the score for UNCG at the 82:43 mark.
The match progressed to overtime, Furman's third consecutive overtime match, and Esquivel won it for the Paladins just 2:54 into the first extra period.
"This was an exciting match," said Furman head coach Doug Allison. "UNCG is an excellent team that will have a great season. This was a fun match to be involved with."
Furman improves to 4-1-1 on the season and 2-0 in league play, while UNCG falls to 4-2, 0-1. Furman returns to action Tuesday at Wofford, while the Spartans are at Wake Forest on Wednesday.
Scoring:
Shots: Furman -- 20; UNCG-- 24.
Corner Kicks: Furman -- 4; UNCG-- 7.
Saves: Furman -- 10; UNCG-- 5.
Fouls: Furman -- 15; UNCG-- 18.