Box Score
Patterson's goal at the 72:29 mark tied the match |
Greensboro, NC - The UNC Greensboro men's soccer played to a very tough 1-1 stalemate with conference rival Furman Saturday night at the UNCG Soccer Stadium in front of a season-high 1,733 rowdy fans.
"We are absolutely spent after this game," UNCG head coach Michael Parker said. "It was a very emotional game for us and I feel that we left everything on the field tonight."
With the tie, UNCG moves to 4-2-2 on the season and 2-0-2 in Southern Conference play. Furman is now 2-5-3 overall and 0-0-2 in league play.
Both teams spent the opening 25 minutes like prize fighters, gaining a feel for their opponent. Furman, who entered the game riding a 44-game conference unbeaten streak, got on the board first as Mark Futrell flicked in his first goal of the season at the 37:59 mark off a corner kick from Josh Villalobos.
UNCG came back to even the match in the 73rd minute when Randi Patterson managed to get behind a Furman defender and punched in his sixth goal of the 2003 campaign in the bottom left corner of the net. James Goodman was credited with the assist.
The first overtime came and went with very few true scoring opportunities. Perhaps the biggest play of the game came with 8:50 remaining in the second overtime when UNCG's Goodman sent a sharp header towards the goal and Furman's Alex Maslow made a tremendous save. Mike Richardson was the Spartans' last chance for victory when his shot went wide left with just 38 seconds remaining in the match.
"The game changing play was definitely when Furman's keeper made the save on (James) Goodman's header," Parker added. "The save was just phenomenal."
The tie extends Furman's NCAA Division I record conference unbeaten streak to 45 matches. Furman's last loss to a SoCon foe was to UNCG in 1998. In addition, the tie extends the Spartans' home unbeaten streak to 11 games, dating back to a loss against Furman in the 2001 campaign.
"This was one of our best efforts of the season," said Furman head coach Doug Allison. "I was impressed by the way we fought and the intensity that we showed. UNCG is an excellent team and they showed that tonight."
UNCG returns to action again Tuesday, October 7, against Davidson. Kickoff is slated for 7 pm at the UNCG Soccer Stadium. The Paladins will also be back in action again on Tuesday, as they host Wofford at 5 pm at Eugene Stone Soccer Stadium.
