Greenville, S.C. -- Furman outshot UNCG 24-10, but the Paladins were forced to settle for their third consecutive 0-0 draw in the Southern Conference opener for both schools on Tuesday night on Seagraves Field at Stone Soccer Stadium.

The Paladins moved to 4-1-3 overall and 0-0-1 in SoCon play, while running their shutout streak to five matches and their unbeaten run to seven outings.  It marked the first time in school history that Furman had played three straight scoreless matches and the five-match shutout streak for the Paladin defense marked the fifth such run in school history.  UNCG moved to 0-7-2 overall and 0-0-1 in the league.

Junior goalkeeper Sven Lissek notched his fifth straight shutout and sixth clean sheet of the 2014 campaign by making three saves in the second overtime period.  William Pyle earned the shutout for the Spartans with seven stops.

Eli Pinner and Tyler Peoples forced Pyle into saves on long range shots in the opening half hour, but Furman's best chance in the first half came at the 31:38 mark when sophomore Lewis Hawke headed a cross from the right wing off of the cross bar.

Furman's Marco Ortiz and Dylan Rowe forced Pyle into saves early in the second half before Eric Gunnarsson nearly put the Spartans in front in the 79th minute with a header from inside six yards off of a corner kick, but his shot banged off of the cross bar and over the goal.

After a first overtime period that saw UNCG's Aaron Reifschneider sent off to put Furman a man up and a lone Paladin shot on goal from Adrian McInnis, the Spartans applied the pressure in the final 10 minutes.  Christopher Reingen hit the left post with a header in the 102nd minute for the 10-man Spartans and Lissek dove to his right to stop Corey Croegaert rebound effort from close range.  In the final four minutes, Austin Miller and Gunnarsson tested Lissek, but the Furman keeper came away with two more stops to extend his shutout streak to over 544 minutes.

Furman plays its first conference road contest on Saturday when it travels to Lexington, Va., to face VMI.  Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.

Live in-game updates will be available on Twitter by following @FurmanSoccer.


Jordan Caskey, Furman Sports Information