Furman Battles UNC in the NCAA Soccer Tournament

The Furman Paladins take a trip up to UNC Tar Heels for the opening round of the NCAA Soccer tournament with the winner advancing to see Marshall on the 24th in round two. The Paladins got here by way of winning the SoCon Soccer Tourney at ETSU on Sunday 2-0. They face ACC powerhouse UNC Tar Heels at Dorrance Field.

@FurmanSoccer 0@UNCmenssoccer 0
First Round NCAA Tournament @DaFanboys @ssn_furman @_WayneAnderson7 @SoConJohn22 @SoConSports @adamtroseberry @Carlito25Way @JDWyatt06 pic.twitter.com/FLz1MKMRAr

— The Furman Joust (@DaFanBoys_) November 21, 2024

Furman will be led by their top 5 players coming out of the SoCon Tournament, Aaron Salinas GK, Christian Kraus F, Slade Starnes D, Ivan Agyaakwah D, and Llyod Wamu Snell F. This will be Furman’s 12th appearance in the NCAA and first since 2018 when they beat UNC Wilmington in penalty kicks, yet lost the next round to Virginia.

NCAA First Round Starters pic.twitter.com/Hgk60BIvHt

— Furman Men's Soccer (@FurmanSoccer) November 21, 2024

We head into halftime after a scoreless first half as both teams have played great defense, and Aaron Salinas has had UNC in his face pretty much the first half. Furman has also been able to test the goalie for UNC but has yet to get a great shot off. Furman stats so far are 2 shots on goal to UNC 4, 3 saves to UNC 1 save, 2 corners to UNC 2 in the game.

Aaron Salinas makes a point-blank save off a corner kick in the final 10 seconds of the 1st half! All level at the break in Chapel Hill! 😈 pic.twitter.com/XJhxMReuRh

— Furman Men's Soccer (@FurmanSoccer) November 21, 2024

In the 35th minute UNC has its best chance to score, but Aaron Salinas gets the save and avoids the netter by UNC. The game has 24 minutes left and it has been a defensive battle, both defensive fronts have helped their goalkeepers keep the shutout. We have come to the end of play with a scoreless game and head to Overtime of ten minutes, if no score then we have a penalty kick to end the game.

Furman Paladins 0
UNC Tar Heels 0
End of Regulation
Heading to Overtime
First Round NCAA Soccer Tournament ⚽️@DaFanboys @ssn_furman pic.twitter.com/hSrSPWGiIB

— The Furman Joust (@DaFanBoys_) November 22, 2024

We go yet another scoreless period in the match with us now going on to the final overtime before we see if we need to decide on penalty kicks. The game of overtime part 2 has now ended in a 0-0 tie and we go to penalty kicks.

Team – Player – Score
———————-
Furman #6 1
UNC #7 1

Furman #22 1
UNC #9 1

Furman #17 1
UNC #5 1

Furman #6 1
UNC #11 0

Furman #10 1

Furman Wins