September 13, 2003
GREENVILLE - The Furman men's soccer team tied Elon 1-1 Saturday night in its Southern Conference opener at Eugene Stone Soccer Stadium.
The Paladins jumped out to a 1-0 lead at the 8:18 mark when Scott Hoch finished a nice give-and-go sequence with Sean Murray. Furman controlled the play much of the match while outshooting the Phoenix 17-7, but the Paladins were unable to get its elusive second goal to help put the match away.
Instead, Elon, playing in its first-ever Southern Conference match, found the equalizer with less than a minute remaining in regulation. Eric Sass put home a loose ball in the box to force overtime. Neither team scored in 20 minutes of overtime.
"I am disappointed once again," said Furman head coach Doug Allison. "We took an early lead and we were not able to put the match away. Elon fought hard today and if you let a scrappy and talented team like that stay in the match, they are going to find a way to get back in the match."
The tie moves Furman to 0-4-1 on the season, 0-0-1 in the Southern Conference, while Elon is now 1-3-1, 0-0-1.
The tie extends Furman's NCAA-record conference unbeaten streak to 44 matches, but ends its Southern Conference winning streak at 22 contests. The 22-match conference win streak dated back to November 5, 2002 and was the longest active conference win streak in the nation and the fourth longest in NCAA history. Furman's 44-match SoCon unbeaten streak dates back to September 23, 1999 and now includes two ties to go along with 42 victories.
Furman returns to action Friday night at UNC Asheville, while Elon will host Gardner-Webb Wednesday at 4:00.
Scoring:
Shots: Furman - 17; Elon - 7
Saves: Furman - 5; Elon - 5
Corner Kicks: Furman - 6; Elon - 7
Fouls: Furman - 19; Elon - 16