Winston-Salem, N.C. – Wake Forest's Sean Okoli netted a first half hat trick to propel the 17th-ranked Demon Deacons to a 3-2 victory over Furman in exhibition men's soccer action on Saturday night at Spry Stadium.

Okoli, a junior forward, put Wake Forest in front just 40 seconds into the match by heading in a Luca Gimenez cross and doubled the lead at the 7:04 mark on assists from Ian Harkes and Chris Duvall.

Furman recovered from the early onslaught to pull back a goal in the 27th minute.  Sophomore Eric Steber served a cross into the path of freshman Bobby Edet who finished on the break to trim the margin to 2-1.

The Demon Deacons restored their two-goal lead less than five minutes later as Gimenez alluded two Paladin defenders to deliver a cross that Okoli headed past Furman goalkeeper Sven Lissek at 31:06.

After Wake Forest goalkeeper Alec Ferrell produced a save on Martin Ontiveros' goal-bound effort in the 33rd minute, Tony Santibanez curled a corner kick into the box and senior Michael Gandier powered a header past Ferrell at 33:06 for Furman's second goal.

Wake Forest created the first chance of the second half as Lissek denied Harkes with a save in the 69th minute.  Ontiveros and Clint Ritter were able to force Ferrell into saves in the 71st and 73rd minutes, but neither team was able to put another shot on target the rest of the way as Wake Forest held on for the 3-2 victory.

The second half was marred by eight yellow card, including six against the Paladins.  Furman managed to finish the match with a 6-4 edge in shots on goal while both teams registered nine total shots.  Lissek stopped three shots before giving way to Trent Johnson in goal in the 77th minute.

Furman will open its regular season at the Nike/Aaron Olitsky Memorial Classic next weekend at Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant, S.C.  The Paladins face Xavier on Friday at 5 p.m. before battling 2010 national champion Akron on Sunday at 12 p.m.

Keep up with the Paladins during the 2013 season with game previews, recaps and statistics at www.FurmanPaladins and on Twitter by following @FurmanPaladins and @FurmanSoccer.