Furman’s first home soccer game of the season was a fantastic continuation of what has already been an exciting season. After a hard fought 4-3 win against Xavier to start the season and a strong, although unsuccessful, effort against nationally ranked Akron, the Paladins returned home to face College of Charleston.
Furman had extra motivation to win this match, which was played in honor of former Paladin defender and captain of the U.S. U-17 National Team Gray Griffin. Griffin was tragically killed in a car accident in 2002, his freshman year at Furman.
The match started off in scary fashion for Paladins fans with a Charleston through ball into the box followed by a strong strike by the Cougar’s Xavier Rajpaul that luckily bounced off the far post to the Paladins, who were able to clear the ball. Coming just five minutes into play, the close call proved to be Charleston’s best chance of the night.
The rest of the first half proved uneventful with no strong chances by either team, though just before the half ended, Furman’s Josh Lietch was taken down dribbling in the opposing team’s box. But the referee called for a goal kick, squashing a potential opportunity for the Paladins.
Early in the second half, Furman’s captain, Michael Gandier, had a fantastic opportunity to place a header into the goal but missed just wide. But the near miss seemed to light a fire in the Paladins, who started to dominate the pitch, orchestrating a relentless string of attacks.
In the 81st minute, highly regarded freshman Bobby Edet struck a header that unfortunately deflected off a post to a Charleston defender who cleared it. Not long afterward Furman senior Martin Ontiveros executed a set piece from just outside the box, curving the ball very nearly into the bottom left corner but ending up just wide. A goal seemed inevitable for Furman as they were taking plenty of good shots but just could not seem to get one through.
As overtime began it once again seemed like Furman, consistently on the attack, had the advantage. Finally, just four minutes into overtime, freshman Eli Pinner received a pass and executed a swift redirection to separate himself from a defender. In just his first few minutes of collegiate play, Pinner struck a laser from outside the box to score the game winning goal.
Pinner’s game-winner underscores the strength of the team’s freshman class. Bobby Edet, a forward, looked very solid in his first home game, with a few good runs up the middle in which he was able to get past multiple defenders. Trevor Hakerborn looked very good on defense, putting a stop to many attacking plays by Charleston with excellent coverage and tackling. Strong play from this group could push Furman towards a berth in the National Tournament.
