Johnson City, Tenn. -- East Tennessee State scored from a set piece in the first half and weathered second half pressure from the Paladins to down Furman, 1-0, in Southern Conference men's soccer action on Wednesday night at Summers-Taylor Stadium in Johnson City, Tenn.

The loss, Furman's third straight, dropped the Paladins to 5-4-3 overall and 1-3-1 in the SoCon.  ETSU improved to 6-6-0 overall and 2-3-0 in league play.

With the match scoreless in the 38th minute, ETSU drew a foul just outside the Paladins' box and midfielder Kevin Pahl was issued a yellow card.  The Buccaneers' Joao Ramalho stepped up to line a shot under Furman's leaping wall of defenders that beat goalkeeper Sven Lissek to give ETSU a 1-0 lead at the 37:53 mark.  The deciding tally marked the eighth goal of the campaign for Ramalho.

After failing to register a shot on goal in the first half and just four total shots in the opening 45 minutes, Furman turned up the pressure on the home side in the second half.  The Paladins posted a 12-2 edge in shot attempts over the finale 45 minutes and directed four shots on goal, but ETSU netminder Daniel Adelman recorded four saves to notch the shutout.

"It's disappointing we can't find the back of the net," said Furman head coach Doug Allison.  "We came up short but played well defensively.  We will keep fighting until they stop us fighting.  We are all going to come to work tomorrow"

Evan De Ycaza was the first to force Adelman into a save in the early moments of the first half before Kyle McLagan had his diving header turned away in the 66th minute.  Lewis Hawke's header on target was stopped by Adelman in the 77th minute and the Paladins were whistled for a foul during a scramble in the goal mouth to thwart another late opportunity.

The Paladins finished with a 16-6 edge in shot attempts and earned nine corner kicks.  Lissek stopped two shots in a losing effort for the Paladins.

Furman returns home on Saturday to celebrate Senior Day versus the VMI Keydets on Seagraves Field at Stone Soccer Stadium.  Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.

Fans can log onto FurmanPaladins.com to follow live statistics and watch free live streaming video via the SoCon Digital Network.  Live in-game updates will be available on Twitter by following @FurmanSoccer.


Jordan Caskey, Furman Sports Information