Greenville, S.C. – Furman matched a season-high with four goals on Saturday night en route to a 4-1 victory over VMI in Southern Conference men's soccer action on Seagraves Field at Stone Stadium.
With the victory, Furman improved to 6-3-2 on the season and evened its conference record at 1-1. VMI slipped to 5-7-2 overall and 0-3 in SoCon play.
The Paladins, who celebrated seniors
Ivan Agyaakwah,
Christian Kraus, and
Spencer Mallion prior to kickoff, opened the scoring in the fourth minute on
Slade Starnes' first goal of the season. Following a long throw-in, Agyaakwah headed a shot off the cross bar that caromed to Starnes in the middle of the box and the sophomore snuck his shot through traffic at the 3:49 mark to give Furman a 1-0 lead.
VMI equalized in the 32
nd minute as Grant Martin got on the end of an Anthony Huang cross from the right wing and headed his shot past goalkeeper
Aaron Salinas to even the match at 1-1. Less than two minutes later, Furman restored its lead for good when
Wilfer Bustamante won the race to a loose ball following a save by VMI's Zack Murphy and played a pass to
Lloyd Wamu Snell in the middle of the box that the forward fired into an empty net at the 32:53 mark for his fourth goal of the year.
The Paladins put the match away with a pair of second half goals. The first came at 69:48 when Agyaakwah served a long ball down the left channel to Wamu Snell who centered a pass to freshman
Wesley Siegel for the tap-in. In the 78
thminute,
Diego Hernandez found
Christian Kraus for a finish in the box for his fourth score of the season at 77:21 to up the Furman cushion to 4-1.
"It's great to get three points tonight and great to be back on Seagraves Field after five straight away games," said Paladin head coach
Doug Allison, who saw his team play at home for the first time since September 8. "I'm happy to see four different players score goals for us tonight and glad to have so many alumni back supporting the program on homecoming weekend."
Furman compiled a 34-9 margin in total shots and equaled its highest single-game shots total since 2021. The Paladins finished with an 18-3 advantage in shots on goal and attempted nine corner kicks to just three for the Keydets.
Salinas made two saves to earn his sixth victory in goal while Murphy stopped 14 shots in a losing effort for VMI.
The Paladins continue their homestand on Tuesday night when they host instate rival Wofford in a match that was postponed earlier this month due to Hurricane Helene. Admission to the match is free and kickoff is set for 6 p.m.
