Greenville, S.C. -- Freshman Kyle McLagan headed in a Tony Santibanez free kick in the 63rd minute to give Furman a 1-0 lead as the third-seeded Paladins held on to eliminate VMI and advance to the semifinal round of the Southern Conference Tournament Saturday night on Seagraves Field at Stone Stadium.

The Paladins, 10-5-3 on the year, will face second-seeded Wofford in Thursday's semifinal round at UNCG Stadium in Greensboro, N.C.  Kickoff is set for 5 p.m.

Furman dominated possession for most of the night and finally broke the scoreless tie at the 62:28 mark on McLagan's first collegiate goal.  The Paladins drew a foul about five yards off of the end line on the right side.  Santibanez stepped up to hit an in-swinging free kick with his left foot that McLagan rose to head in at the back post.

VMI turned up the pressure on Furman in the final 15 minutes as it pushed for an equalizer.  The Keydets earned three straight corner kicks in the 76th minute and Chris Spates forced Furman's Sven Lissek to push a shot wide off the first set piece.

At the 86:46 mark, VMI's Hunter Morgan fired a dipping shot from the right wing that carried over Lissek's head before banging off of the cross bar.  Andrew Hicks collected the loose ball on the left side of the box, but his shot was blocked.

Furman's Bobby Edet was taken down on a counter attack moments later that resulted in a caution, and VMI's Hicks received his second yellow card to send the Keydets down the 10 men with 58 seconds left.

Lissek finished with one save to earn the shutout for the Paladins.  It marked his ninth clean sheet of the season.  Alex Guerra turned away four shots for the Keydets.

Furman compiled a 20-5 edge in shots and 5-1 advantage in shots on goal.  The Paladins looked like they may take the early lead in the fifth minute when Edet's shot from the left side slammed off the cross bar, but Eli Pinner's follow-up header was smothered by Guerra.

McLagan forced Guerra into a save off of a header late in the first half and the VMI goalkeeper stopped shots from Adrain McInnis and Pinner in the opening minutes of the second half before McLagan's header broke the tie.

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

The winner of Thursday's game will advance to face either UNCG or Mercer in Saturday's SoCon championship match.


Jordan Caskey, Furman Sports Information