Greenville, S.C. – Midfielder Diego Hernandez assisted on a pair of goals and converted from the penalty spot in the 69^th minute to lift the 16th-ranked Furman men's soccer team to a 3-2 victory over East Tennessee State on Senior Night Saturday evening on Seagraves Field at Stone Soccer Stadium.
 
The league victory improved the Paladins to 8-1-4 overall and 1-0-1 in Southern Conference play while the Buccaneers slipped to 1-6-4 overall and 1-1-0 in the SoCon.
 
With the match knotted at 2-2 and less than 21 minutes remaining in the second half, ETSU was whistled for a handball in the box, which was confirmed following video review. Hernandez, a junior from Mesquite, Texas, stepped to the penalty spot and drilled his shot into the corner at 69:08 to break the deadlock. The eventual match-winning score marked the team-leading seventh goal of the campaign for Hernandez, who was selected to the Hermann Trophy Watch List earlier this week.
 
"This was all about our seniors tonight," said Paladin head coach Doug Allison. "We played for them and dedicate this victory to them. They've been great teammates, are set to get their degrees, and a couple of them are even about to get married. We're thankful for them and all the alumni who were in the stands tonight. We had three leads and only held one, but it was the right one."
 
Furman went ahead just 57 seconds into the match when Hernandez fed a pass to Caleb Johnson and the junior slid a pass into the path of Gabe Cox, who finished his chance into the left-hand side of the net for his first goal of the season. ETSU leveled the match in the 11th minute when Jaime Carrillo played a ball over the top that Berkay Duman chased down behind the back line of the Paladins before firing past Furman goalkeeper Ivan Horvat.
 
The Paladins once again took the lead at the 24:21. Hernandez cross the ball to Ryan Reid on the left side of the box and the redshirt-freshman's shot beat the Buccaneer keeper to give Furman a 2-1 advantage. The Buccaneers, however, found an answer in the 39^th minute. Ingvar Kolbjornsen's shot was saved off the line by the Furman defense, but Carrillo tucked away the rebound to even the score before halftime.
 
Horvat finished the match with four saves to earn the victory in goal for Furman. ETSU's Emil Holmberg was credited with five saves on the night. The Paladins outshot the Bucs 9-3 in the second half to finish with a 19-12 advantage in total shots and 8-7 edge in shots on goal.
 
Prior to kickoff, the Paladins honored seniors Natondi Mokeba, Reece Fragle, Lloyd Wamu Snell, Landon Hill, and Jackson Price.
 
Furman travels to Lexington, Va., to face the VMI Keydets at Patchin Field on Saturday, October 18, at 3 p.m.
 
Minuteman Press is the Official Sponsor of Furman Athletics press releases.