Sept. 26, 2004

Box Score

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -

Furman's Eliot Paschalis posted a hat trick to lead the Furman men's soccer team to a 4-1 victory over Liberty and win tournament MVP honors at the Wofford/adidas Invitational this afternoon at Snyder Field on the Wofford College campus in Spartanburg, S.C.

The Paladins (3-3-1) rallied from an early 1-0 deficit to post their third straight victory.

"I am very pleased at the way we played today and happy to win the tournament," said Furman head coach Doug Allison. "It was great to see Eliot score a hat trick as well."

The Flames (4-4-1) scored first on a Darryl Roberts penalty kick at the 23:50 mark. Three of the five goals in the match were scored on penalty kicks.

Furman evened the game at 1-1 when Shea Salinas fed Paschalis from the left side for his first goal of the afternoon.

Following a 1-1 tie at the intermission, Paschalis gave the Paladins the lead for good at 58:23 when he scored from inside the 6-yard box off a cross from Josh Villalobos.

Penalty kicks by Paschalis and Dominic Cianciarulo at 69:15 and 79:39, respectively, provided the final margin.

After being outshot 10-9 in the opening 45 minutes, Furman held a 15-7 edge in the second half for an overall 24-17 margin.

Paladin goalkeeper Alex Maslow had six saves. K.J. Sabotchick registered four saves for the Flames.

Maslow, Josh Villalobos, Jon Leathers and Luke Barbour joined Paschalis on the all-tournament team.

Furman hosts nationally-ranked UNC Greensboro in a Southern Conference showdown Saturday night at Stone Soccer Stadium.