Postgame Interviews and Highlights

Greenville, S.C. -- Lewis Hawke and Kevin Pahl netted second half goals to rally Furman past Mercer, 2-1, in Southern Conference men's soccer action Tuesday evening on Seagraves Field at Stone Stadium.

With its victory over the first place Bears in the final regular season match of the season at Stone Stadium, Furman extended its wining streak to four matches and improved to 9-4-3 overall and 5-3-1 in league play.  The victory also clinched a top three finish for the Paladins.  A win over Wofford in Saturday's regular season finale in Spartanburg, S.C., will give the Paladins the No. 2 seed and a bye in the upcoming SoCon Tournament, while a loss or tie versus the Terriers will leave Furman with the No. 3 seed and a home match in the first round of the league tournament.

"We're just thankful to get the three points once again and keep our winning streak going," said Paladin head coach Doug Allison.  "I'm really proud of the kids tonight for being resilient and coming out strong in the second half."

Mercer (11-6-0, 7-2-0 SoCon), who would have wrapped up the SoCon regular season title with a win, took a 1-0 halftime lead without the benefit of a shot in the opening 45 minutes.  The Bears won a throw-in about 15 yards from the end line in the 15th minute.  The throw bounced inside the six-yard box and was inadvertently knocked into the net by Paladin goalkeeper Sven Lissek at the 14:45 mark for an own goal.

In the 53rd minute, Furman's Marco Ortiz received the ball down the middle of the field, dribbled around his defender and into the left side of the box before playing a low cross towards the right post.  Hawke controlled the ball on the right side and fired a shot past Mercer goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh at 52:47 to knot the match at 1-1.  The goal marked the team-leading seventh of the season for Hawke.

Furman controlled the majority of the possession in the second half and earned its chance to take the lead when junior Kevin Pahl was hauled down on the right side of the box with 7:39 left in regulation.  Pahl stepped to the penalty spot fired a shot that beat Ranjitsingh to the lower right-hand corner for the deciding goal.

Moments after the score, Lissek preserved the Paladin lead by tipping a Jordan Duru shot over the cross bar to deny Mercer's best second-half scoring opportunity.

The Paladins finished with a 12-5 edge in shots and 4-3 advantage in shots on goal.  Lissek made two saves to earn his eighth victory in goal, while Ranjitsingh stopped two shots in a losing effort for the Bears.

Furman caps the regular season with a 7 p.m. clash with Wofford on Saturday at Snyder Field in Spartanburg.

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


Jordan Caskey, Furman Sports Information