Greenville, S.C. -- South Carolina grabbed a 1-0 first half lead and added a pair of goal in the final nine minutes to down 18th-ranked Furman, 3-0, in men's soccer action on Tuesday evening at the Ovarian Cancer Awareness Game on Seagraves Field at Stone Soccer Stadium.

With their third straight win, the Gamecocks improved to 4-3-0 on the season, while Furman slipped to 4-2-1.

South Carolina dominated much of the possession in the opening half, but both teams created goal scoring opportunities in the early going. After Gamecock Luca Mayr's header was saved by Paladin goalkeeper Jonathan Smith three minutes into the match, Furman's Evan De Ycaza rocketed a shot off the left post at the 7:52 mark. Senior Lewis Hawke forced Gamecock goalkeeper William Pyle into saves in the 28th and 30th minutes before Kevin Walker rattled a shot off of the Paladin post at 31:54.

The Gamecocks found the tiebreaking goal at the 32:57 mark when Mayr received the ball near the penalty spot and played a pass back to Kurtis Turner. The midfielder's shot from the left side of the box took a deflection off of a defender and found the right side of the Paladin net to give South Carolina a 1-0 advantage.

Furman produced its best scoring chance of the night less than two minutes later. A cross to the left of the goal was headed from the end line across the face of goal. Bobby Edet leaped over his defender to turn a header on frame, but his shot bounced off the underside of the cross bar and failed to cross the goal line.

The Paladins began to even out the possession in the second half, but South Carolina put the game away in the 82nd minute. The Gamecocks broke down the right wing on a counter attack and swung a cross into the box that took a deflection off of defender Marco Ortiz's arm. Danny Deakin stepped to the penalty spot and buried the free kick into the lower right-hand corner to double the lead at 81:04.

With Furman pressing forward, South Carolina added a third goal with 46 seconds left as Walker finished to the left corner on an assist from Christoffer Wallander Ianev.

Pyle stopped three shots in goal to earn the shutout for the Gamecocks, while Smith turned away four shots in a losing effort for Furman.

South Carolina managed a 16-11 edge in total shots and 7-3 advantage in shots on goal.

Furman opens Southern Conference play on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. when it travels to Lexington, Va., to face the VMI Keydets. Fans can access in-game updates on Twitter by following @FurmanSoccer.


Jordan Caskey, Furman Sports Information