The Paladin Men’s Soccer team opened up SoCon play Sat., Sept. 26 with a 3-0 victory over Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Va.

Freshman midfielder Danny Kierath scored the first goal of the game in the thirtieth minute with an assist from junior midfielder Eli Pinner. This was Kierath’s first goal of his Paladin career.

Twenty minutes later, Pinner took the pass from senior midfielder and captain Kevin Pahl and buried it from 20 yards out to put the Paladins up 2-0.

The last goal of the game came in the seventy-seventh minute when junior forward Bobby Edit chipped a shot over the goalie from 15 yards out to put it in the back of the net to secure the victory.

Furman dominated on the shot chart with a 29-4 advantage and a 12-2 advantage on shots on goal.

This was a much needed win for the Paladins, not only because it was the first conference game, but also because of what Furman has faced thus far.

It has been an extremely tough start for the Paladins as they have suffered numerous injuries already this season.

“We’ve had quite the misfortune with injuries, having had 10 or 11 guys go down,” said senior midfielder Adrian McInnis.

The team has had five players succumb to ACL injuries (Dalton Sounder, Tyler Peoples, Dylan Rowe, Braden Myus and Kevin Edelmann). Other injured players include Brendan Richardson (torn LCL), Wellford Moore (ankle), Sven Lissek (quad) and Marco Ortiz (rib). McInnis says the injuries have “completely shifted” the team.

To make matters worse, the Paladins lost defender Kyle McLagan for accumulating five yellow cards over the season and McInnis to a red card in their last match against Stetson.

McInnis credits the freshmen for helping the team through this tough time.

“All the freshmen are pulling their weight and being relied on heavily,” he said.

Despite the slow start this season, McInnis says they are not far from being where they think they should be.

“Besides a few minor adjustments, we just have to score goals,” he said. “We have the chances but were just not putting the ball in the back of the net.”

McInnis went on to say, “The soccer team appreciates everyone who comes out to watch us play and we hope that we can produce some results for the fans.”

The next home game for Men’s soccer will be Sat., Oct. 3 at 1:30 p.m. against UNC-Greensboro.