Chapel Hill, N.C. – Diego Hernandez buried his penalty kick opportunity in the fifth round to help the Furman men's soccer team advance past 14th-ranked North Carolina, 5-3, following a scoreless draw in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday night at Dorrance Field in Chapel Hill, N.C.
 
The Paladins (9-3-6) advance to face No. 13 seed Marshall in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at 2 p.m. on Sunday, November 24, in Huntington, W.Va. North Carolina concluded its season at 9-4-5.
 
"I'm so proud of this team and their resilience tonight," said Paladin head coach Doug Allison. "We had five great penalty kicks and were able to get another shutout. We also want to thank our Furman alumni, parents, and fans who made the trip tonight. It was great to see so much purple!"
 
After 110 minutes of scoreless soccer, each team converted on their first three rounds of penalty kicks. Slade Starnes started the fourth round by putting Furman ahead 4-3. North Carolina's Luke Hille fired his shot over the cross bar and Hernandez finished his chance to secure the Paladins' trip to the second round.
 
Sophomore Aaron Salinas, the Southern Conference Goalkeeper of the Year, notched the shutout for the Paladins with four saves while Andrew Cordes posted four stops for the Tar Heels.
 
North Carolina held a 10-9 edge in total shots with both teams putting four shots on goal and earning three corner kicks apiece.
 
The Paladins and Tar Heels created few chances in the opening 35 minutes with Furman's Lloyd Wamu Snell registering the only shot on goal. North Carolina came to life in the final 10 minutes of the first half forcing Furman's Aaron Salinas into three saves, including a point-blank stop on Riley Thomas' shot off a corner kick with only four seconds on the clock.
 
Martin Vician created UNC's most dangerous chance of the night in the 54^th minute with a goalbound header that Salinas pushed wide of the left post with a diving effort. Five minutes later, Malachi Grant's cross into the box just missed the on-rushing Christian Kraus before another cross found Wesley Siegel at the back post. The freshman, however, fired over the bar.
 
Furman's best chance of the second half came in the 85^th minute when Kraus cut inside a defender and ripped a shot that was stopped at the near post. Neither team was able to record a shot on target in the two overtime periods.
 
The Paladins' victory comes 25 years to the day after Furman topped North Carolina, 2-1, in overtime in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at Stone Stadium on November 21, 1999.
 
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