Mt. Pleasant, S.C. -- Sophomore Josiah Baker scored with 1:16 remaining in regulation to break a scoreless tie and lift the Furman men's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over 23rd-ranked FIU in the season opener for both schools in the Aaron Olitsky Memorial Classic at the College of Charleston's Patriots Point Athletics Complex on Friday.

With under two minutes remaining, Furman was awarded a free kick and junior Zach Jackson delivered a cross into the box. Dalton Souder headed the ball to Bobby Edet and the senior played a pass to Baker, who lofted a shot past Panther goalkeeper Arthur Clapot at the 88:44 mark to propel the Paladins to the season-opening triumph.

After a first half that saw the Paladins and Panthers combine for just four total shots and one shot on goal, Furman pressed forward after FIU was reduced to 10 men in the 53rd minute when Aron Heiddal was shown the red card for taking down a Paladin attacker on a breakaway. Furman compiled a 5-1 edge in shots on goal the rest of the way, leading to Baker's heroics in the final two minutes.

The Paladins (1-0-0) finished with an 8-7 edge in total shots and 5-3 advantage in shots on goal. Sophomore Jonathan Smith stopped three shots to notch his first career win and first clean sheet in goal. Clapot turned away four shots for FIU (0-1-0).

Furman concludes play in the Aaron Olitsky Memorial Classic on Sunday when they take on Navy at noon. Live stats will be available through StatBroadcast by logging onto FurmanPaladins.com or on your mobile device at PaladinsLive.com.

Fans can access score updates on Twitter by following @FurmanSoccer.


Jordan Caskey, Furman Sports Information