Greensboro, N.C. – The race for the Southern Conference regular season championship and No. 1 seed in the SoCon Tournament remained wide open as Furman and UNC Greensboro battled to a 1-1 stalemate Tuesday evening at UNCG Soccer Stadium.
Furman struck first in the 21
st minute when
Wilfer Bustamante carried the ball to the end line and played a pass back to
Grayson Travis to deposit into the near side of the net at the 20:51 mark. The goal marked the fourth of the season for the sophomore from Louisville, Ky.
UNCG dominated possession in the opening 10 minutes of the second half and found the equalizer at 54:29. Furman was whistled for tugging the jersey of a Spartan in the box, and following video review, Mathis Robinand converted from the penalty spot to even the match at 1-1.
Both teams created dangerous chances in the final minutes of the match. Furman earned a free kick outside the right edge of the box in the 86
th minute and
Braden Dunham hammered his set piece off the middle of the cross bar. With just second left, UNCG's Lasse Dahl crossed the top of the box and laced a strike that Furman's
Aaron Salinas dove to push wide. The follow-up chance was deflected off the left post. As time expired, Muhammed Sumaila nearly gave UNCG the points with a left-footed blast that flashed above the cross bar as the clock hit zero.
UNCG outshot Furman 23-15 and held a 7-3 advantage in shots on goal. Salinas stopped seven shots for the Paladins while Seth Wilson notched two saves for the Spartans.
With the draw, Furman enters Saturday's regular season finale versus Wofford at Stone Stadium at 6-3-6 overall and 2-1-2 in SoCon play. The Spartans, who will also conclude their regular season on Saturday versus ETSU, are 5-2-8 overall and 2-0-3 in the SoCon. The Paladins can still claim the SoCon regular season title with a victory over the Terriers and a UNCG-ETSU draw.
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