Greenville, S.C. – Freshman Jake Raine scored the opening goal and assisted on another Paladin score, and goalkeeper Ben Hale recorded a shutout as Furman men's soccer blanked South Carolina, 3-0, in the season opener Sunday evening on Seagraves Field at Stone Soccer Stadium.
 
"It's been so long since we've played one that counted that I'm just happy for the boys to get this win," said Paladin head coach Doug Allison. "We scored some nice goals tonight and our captains did a great job leading us."
 
Raine opened the scoring in the 25^th minute when Sam Miller served a corner kick inside the six-yard box and the Stoke, England, product fought his way through traffic to touch a shot past South Carolina goalkeeper Ryan Bilichuck at the 24:03 mark for his first collegiate goal. Just over seven minutes later, Callum Holland pounced on a clearance near the top of the box and volleyed a 19-yard shot into the lower left-hand corner to double the Paladin lead at 31:12.
 
Hale recorded a pair of saves to keep the Gamecocks off of the scoreboard and the Paladins eventually added another insurance goal at 69:41 when Raine flicked a pass into the path of sophomore Shaun-Chris Joash who lined a shot into the right-hand corner for his first tally of the season.
 
The Paladins (1-0-0) managed a 13-5 edge in total shots and 7-2 margin in shots on target. Furman earned six corner kicks, while surrendering just three to the Gamecocks.
 
Bilichuck finished with four saves for South Carolina (5-3-0).
 
Furman returns to action on Wednesday when it travels to Spartanburg, S.C., to take on USC Upstate at 7 p.m.