Boiling Springs, N.C. – Conor Sloan rallied the Paladins from a 4-3 deficit in the final minutes of regulation before scoring in overtime to hand Furman a 5-4 victory over Gardner-Webb in non-conference men's soccer action Friday evening at Greene-Harbison Stadium in Boiling Springs, N.C.
With the 5-4 decision, Furman (1-1-1) claimed its first victory of the 2019 season and head coach
Doug Allison notched his 299
th career win. Gardner-Webb slipped to 0-3-0 on the season.
Tied 3-3 with under 10 minutes left in regulation, Furman was whistled for a foul in the box and Gardner-Webb's Oskar Wang completed his hat trick with a penalty kick to put the Runnin' Bulldogs in front, 4-3, at the 80:33 mark. With less than three minutes left in regulation,
Emery May lined a lofted cross behind the Runnin' Bulldog defense and Sloan outran the opposition to the ball before slotting his shot into the right corner on a breakaway to tie the match and force overtime.
Sloan grabbed all the points for the Paladins with 17 seconds remaining in the first overtime when he took a pass from
Brendan Weigley on the right side of the box, cut towards the middle to elude a defender and curled a shot into the far left-hand corner to set off the Furman celebration.
The win marked Furman's seventh in nine matches all time versus Gardner-Webb and second straight win over the Runnin' Bulldogs.
After Pedro Benito gave GWU a 1-0 lead in the 16
th minute,
Cole McLagan knotted the match in the 18
th minute and gave Furman a 2-1 lead from the penalty spot at the 22:32 mark. Gardner-Webb tied the match on Wangs goal at 31:24, but
Luke Tandy netted his first collegiate goal at 32:27 on an assist from
Miles Fenton to put the Paladins back in front. The Runnin' Bulldogs tied the match at 3-3 on the first of Wang's two goals from the penalty spot at 35:41.
The Paladins finished with a 19-10 advantage in total shots and managed a 14-4 edge in shots on goal in the victory. Daniel Husa stopped eight shots in the loss for Gardner-Webb.
The Paladins are back in action at 7 p.m. on Sunday night when they face Winthrop in Rock Hill, S.C. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Furman opens its home schedule on Wednesday, September 11, when it hosts UNC Asheville for the annual Gray Griffin Memorial Game on Seagraves Field at Stone Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. and tickets are available for $5 at FurmanPaladins.com.
