Nov. 3, 2004

Box Score

GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Furman men's soccer played to a 2-2 deadlock with rival Clemson in men's soccer action in front of a crowd of 1,256 Wednesday night at Stone Soccer Stadium. With the draw, Furman remains unbeaten in its last three matches.

Furman struck first in the 34th minute when freshman Richard Jata put the Paladins ahead 1-0. Noah Grams, from the middle of the box, played the ball off to Jata on the left side and the freshman bent a shot past Clemson goalkeeper Hunter Gilstrap to the far post for his fourth goal of the season.

Steven Rhyne equalized for Clemson at the 48:58 mark. Justin Moore served a free kick into the box and Rhyne's header beat Furman keeper Alex Maslow for his 11th tally of the year.

The Paladins regained the lead less than 25 minutes later on senior Luke Barbour's second goal of the year. Jata's corner kick from the right side found a charging Barbour who out jumped his defender and headed a shot under Gilstrap to give Furman a 2-1 advantage.

Clemson answered for the second time at 87:10 when, after heavy pressure on the Paladin defense, Olatomiwa Ogunsola flashed in front of a Havird Usry cross and beat Maslow with a header to even the match at 2-2.

"This was an excellent college soccer match tonight," said Furman head coach Doug Allison. "I hate we couldn't hold on to the lead, but we got something out of overtime tonight and we are unbeaten in our last three matches."

Clemson was presented with the best chance to break the deadlock in double overtime. Ogunsola pounced on a loose ball from point-blank range, but his shot glanced off of Maslow's finger tips for a corner kick.

Clemson held a commanding 21-9 edge in shots taken and 14-5 advantage in corner kicks in the 110 minute contest. The match featured 49 combined fouls and five yellow cards.

Gilstrap finished with one save in net for the Tigers, while Maslow stopped six shots for the Paladins.

Prior to the match, Furman honored seniors Alex Maslow, Luke Barbour, Jon Rydarowski, John Hanley and Nick LeBlanc who were playing in their final contest at Stone Stadium.

Furman, 6-8-2, travels to Radford for its regular season finale on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 before facing Appalachian State in a 7:00 p.m. contest in Boone, N.C., Tuesday night in the opening round of the Southern Conference Tournament.

Clemson closes out its regular season hosting ACC foe North Carolina at 2:00 p.m. Sunday at Historic Riggs Field.