When	Saturday, October 9, 2021
Where	Stone Stadium -- Greenville S.C.
Time	7 p.m.
Series History	Furman edged UNCG, 3-2 in OT on Saturday, March 20, 2021. UNCG leads all-time series, 20-19-4.
Live Stats	CLICK HERE
Watch Live	ESPN+

GREENSBORO, N.C. – It's the one axiom in sports that remains tried and true, regardless of era.
 
Whenever a team gets nationally-ranked, its next game is almost always against a quality opponent or a long-time rival on the road. Look it up, especially in college basketball, when a team gets ranked or achieves the No. 1 ranking, their next contest is usually somewhere hostile, which adds more motivation to an already fired-up opponent.
 
This is where the UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's soccer team finds itself. A space the Spartans are happily embracing.
 
Nationally-ranked for the first time this season at No. 19 in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 and No. 27 in the College Soccer News Top 30, UNCG is headed on the road for a pair of tough matches against good opponents with a higher incentive to stop the Spartans.
 
The first test is at Furman Saturday night in a prime-time showdown. Forget the Paladins 2-6 record entering the match. Furman is the reigning Southern Conference regular season champion. The Paladins knocked off Belmont on the road, which is an indication of how dangerous they are.
 
Furman and UNCG is one of the SoCon's top men's soccer rivalries. So, records and rankings mean nothing.
 
The Paladins are the one squad that has bedeviled third-year head coach Chris Rich. Furman is the only SoCon program that Rich hasn't defeated since he's been at the helm of the Spartans, dropping a pair of hard-fought, one goal matches.
 
UNCG is heading down Interstate 85, knowing it will be tested by a dangerous and talented Paladin program that's accustomed to excellence.
 
The Spartans are embracing the challenge.
 
Quotable
UNCG graduate transfer Theo Quartey on the match-up against Furman.
"Every team we play is a good team. Furman is a good team. They want to beat us. For us, it's not about Furman, it's about UNCG and what we do daily, in practice and how we execute our game. If we play our game, we believe we can beat anybody in the country. The focus is all about us and what we can control."
 
A LOOK AT UNCG

• UNCG is ranked fourth in the South Region, the highest under Rich.
• The Spartans defeated Mercer, 3-0, in their last game.
• Quartey scored two goals and Emmanuel Hagan scored his first career collegiate goal.
• Maycol Reyes had two assists in the win.
• UNCG has a seven-match road unbeaten streak since the spring (5-0-2).
• UNCG leads the nation in goals scored (32) and points (94).
• The Spartans are second in the country in goal differential (24), scoring offense (2.91), and assists (30).
• UNCG is also third in the NCAA in points per game (8.55) and fifth in assists per game (2.73) and shutout percentage (.636).
• Sophomore Theo Collomb is second in the NCAA in goals (11), points (25), and points per game (2.50). He is third in the country in goals per game (1.10).
• UNCG has seven clean sheets.

 
A LOOK AT FURMAN

• This will be the Paladins' first game since September 29 when they fell 2-1 in overtime at College of Charleston. 
• Furman's scheduled match against Presbyterian on Tuesday was canceled.
• Jake Raine collected his team-leading fourth goal of the season against the Cougars while Ben Roberts finished with five saves in goal.
• Raine had a team-high four shots and tallied one attempt on goal along with Conor Dowler and Alfredo Diaz-Santillan.
• Raine leads the Furman offense this season with nine points on four goals and one assist. 
• Miles Fenton contributes a team-best three assists.
• Roberts has registered 36 saves in goal to go with a 1.68 GAA and .720 save percentage.
• Two of Furman's setbacks were to Mercer (1-0) and Winthrop (3-1), a pair of teams that UNCG defeated by a combined score of 9-0.

 
UP NEXT

• UNCG concludes its two-match road trip when it visits Belmont next Saturday at 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT. It will be a rematch of this past spring's SoCon Tournament championship match, won by the Spartans, 1-0.