Greenville, S.C. – No. 20 Furman and eighth-ranked Duke battled to 1-1 draw in men's soccer action in front of a crowd of 2,828 Sunday evening on Seagraves Field at Stone Soccer Stadium.
On a night when Furman retired Paladin and United States soccer legend Clint Dempsey's No. 2 jersey prior to kickoff, the Paladins (2-0-2) and Blue Devils (2-0-1) shared the points to remain unbeaten on the season.
"I'm really proud of the boys tonight," said Paladin head coach
Doug Allison. "It was an outstanding crowd tonight and we are very thankful for everyone who came out and showed support for Clint Dempsey and our team. They were treated to an entertaining match."
The Paladins, who outshot Duke 6-1 in the opening half, broke the scoreless deadlock 37 minutes into the match when
Ben Boxall served a left-footed cross inside the six-yard box that
Landon Hill headed off the underside of the crossbar for his first goal of the season. Furman maintained its lead until the 51
st minute. Duke's Nikolai Bull Jorgensen struck a shot from the top of the box that ricocheted off a Paladin defender and Kenan Hot pounced on the loose ball to punch a shot past Furman goalkeeper
Max Miller at the 50:26 mark.
The chances increased over the final 30 minutes. Duke's Alessandro Arlotti and Leonardo D'Ambrosio forced Miller into saves in the 65
th and 69
th minutes, respectively, before Miller proved up for the task again on Preston Zabinko's 72
ndminute chance. Furman created its own opportunities in the final 10 minutes as
Wesley Siegel capped a long run through the midfield by firing wide of the left post and
Caleb Johnson streaked behind the defense in the final minutes only to have Blue Devil goalkeeper Eryk Dymora stop his breakaway shot from close range.
The Paladins finished with a 15-10 lead in total shots while managing a 7-4 edge in shots on target. Miller recorded three saves for the Paladins and Dymora stopped six shots for Duke.
Furman returns to action on Thursday night when it hosts former Southern Conference foe Davidson for the Gray Griffin Memorial Game on Seagraves Field at Stone Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. and admission is free.
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