NCAA Tournament Bracket

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Greenville, S.C. – The No. 16 seed Furman Paladins play for a berth in the NCAA Championship Match when they face the Washington Huskies in the first of two national semifinals on Friday night at First Horizon Stadium in Cary, N.C.
 
Kickoff between the Paladins and Huskies is set for 6 p.m. on ESPNU with Saint Louis and No. 15 seed N.C. State scheduled to play the second semifinal match at approximately 8:30 p.m. All tickets are general admission and can be purchased at NCAA.com.
 
Furman continued its historic season last Friday with a 1-0 victory at No. 8 seed Portland that earned the school's first NCAA College Cup appearance. Freshman Braden Dunham broke the scoreless deadlock in the 75^th minute with a left-footed chip over the head of the Pilots' goalkeeper from 40 yards out to put Furman in front. Redshirt-freshman Ivan Horvat totaled seven saves in goal to earn the clean sheet and fellow freshman Luke Munson made a crucial save by heading a Portland shot off the line in the final moments to send the Paladins to Cary.
 
The Paladins arrive at college soccer's "Final Four" with a 16-1-5 record and riding a nation-best 14-match unbeaten run. Midfielder Diego Hernandez, a finalist for Top Drawer Soccer's national player of the year and semifinalist for the MCA Hermann Trophy, has led the Paladins with 10 goals and a SoCon-best nine assists. The team captain has helped Furman rank second nationally in goals (50), third in assists (55), and second in total points (155) while also registering 10 shutouts in 22 matches. 
 
Hernandez, the SoCon Player of the Year, has received help in the attack by super-sub Wilfer Bustamante, who has netted eight goals and added nine assists off the bench. Redshirt freshman Ivan Horvat, the SoCon Goalkeeper of the Year, and Braden Dunham, the league's freshman of the year, have led a stout defense that features four freshman and a sophomore. Despite the youth in the back, Furman ranks 23^rd nationally with a .791 saves percentage and 28^th with a 0.848 goals against average.
 
Head coach Doug Allison, in his 31^st and final season on the Paladin sideline following his retirement announcement prior to the season, enters the NCAA College Cup ranked 10^th among active Division I head coaches with 365 career victories. Known for developing United States National Team standouts Ricardo Clark, Clint Dempsey, and Walker Zimmerman during his hall of fame career at Furman, Allison has led the Paladins to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances and reached at least the second round in four of the last five postseason trips.
 
Friday's semifinal match marks the fourth all-time meeting between Furman and Washington (14-6-2) with the Huskies holding a 2-0-1 series lead. Washington claimed a 1-0 triumph over the Paladins in the 2007 Husky Fever Classic in Seattle, Wash., before blanking Furman 4-0 in the Furman Invitational in Greenville, S.C., the following year. The most recent meeting came in the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament when the schools played to a 0-0 draw in Seattle before the Huskies prevailed, 6-5, in a nine-round penalty kick shootout.
 
The winners of Friday's semifinal matches advance to the national championship match, which is set for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff on Monday, December 15, at First Horizon Stadium.
 
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