Box Score GREENSBORO, N.C. – In a game befitting of a showdown between the top two teams in the Southern Conference standings, the UNCG men's soccer team battled for 110 minutes against Furman and ended in a scoreless tie Saturday night at the UNCG Soccer Stadium in the 2015 UNCG Homecoming contest in front of a season-high 2,385 fans. The tie keeps the league standings intact with Furman holding the top spot and the Spartans alone in second place, just two points behind heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.
Freshman goalkeeper Jon Milligan (Mount Pleasant, S.C./Wando) recorded his second career shutout, making a career-high eight saves for the Spartans. Furman goalkeeper Sven Lissek tallied three saves in 110 minutes to earn the shutout on the opposite side, including a pivotal save in the 51st minute of a sure UNCG goal.
The Spartans came out of the gate quickly, using the excitement from the Homecoming crowd and had a couple of chances in the first five minutes. UNCG's best chance came in the third minute of the game off a corner kick. Freshman Matteo Busio (Greensboro, NC./Western Guilford) drove a ball to the near post where junior Damieon Thomas (St. Catherine, Jamaica/Georgia Military College) beat his defender to the spot and drove a head just over the cross bar.
Furman had its first chance in the 34th minute of play. Reserve forward Bobby Edet made a run and got behind the defense. Edet ripped a shot on goal but Milligan made a sprawling save and junior defender Hugo Coicaud (Le Havre, France/Saint-Joseph) cleared the rebound out of the box.
The Paladins had their best chance of the first half in the closing seconds of the opening period. Furman had a free kick from 40-yards out and sprung a forward down the left-hand side. The ball was crossed into the box where Brendan Souder was alone and drilled a head towards goal, but Milligan was there to thwart the attack with his fifth save of the half and send the game into the locker room tied.
UNCG looked ready to take the lead in the 51st minute off a corner kick but a stunning save by Lissek kept the game scoreless. The ball was sent to the back post where Coicaud flicked it back to the middle of the box. Redshirt sophomore midfielder Rouven Wahlfeldt (Velbert, Germany/Gymnasium Waldstrasse) drove a shot goal bound, but Lissek was able to get a hand on the shot and push it out of harms way, saving a sure goal.
Just seconds later, freshman midfielder Leeroy Maguraushe (Milton Keynes, England/Stantonbury) found space at the top of the 18-yard box. Maguraushe ripped a bending shot that went past Lissek but dipped over the top of the cross bar and out of play.
Furman had a chance in the 60th minute of action as a cross was whipped into the box. Edet struck the cross as he was falling down across the grain but it rolled just wide of the post as Milligan was stuck in the middle of the goal.
Redshirt junior forward Christopher Reingen (Dusseldorf, Germany/Univ. of Dusseldorf) had a go at it in the 88th minute from 22-yards out but his shot went just over the cross bar. Furman had the game's final chance in regulation with just 25 seconds left as Eli Pinner got a head on the ball from 10-yards out but Milligan was there to save the effort and send the game into overtime.
The overtime period saw the Spartans push for the go-ahead goal while Furman seemed content to go for the tie and claim a 1-0-1 record against UNCG in the season series. Senior forward Jacques Francois (Port Au Prince, Haiti/Louisburg College) had the best chance in the extra frames in the 91st minute. The Spartans sent a corner kick into the box and Francois volleyed a shot on goal but Lissek was there to make the save.
The Spartans hit the road Tuesday night as they travel to Macon, Ga., to face off against defending SoCon regular season champion Mercer. Game time is set for 7 p.m. and will be on the SoCon Digital Network. The Spartans posted a 2-1 overtime victory over the Bears earlier this season in Greensboro
-UNCG-
