Davidson Drops Tough 2-1 Decision at Furman

Friday, October 10

Greenville, S.C.

7:00 p.m.

Davidson College Athletics

2-9-1, 1-2SoCon

Furman

8-4-1, 3-0SoCon

Team	1	2	Final F
Davidson	1	0	1
Furman	0	2	2

Machel Turner scored his team-leading 3rd goal of the year against Furman

10/10/2008 9:02:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Matt Harris - Assistant SID

GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Davidson men's soccer team, playing in front of 1,909 people in one of the most hostile environments in the Southern Conference, jumped on top early but were unable to overcome Furman's game-winning goal in the 83rd minute of play, losing 2-1 Friday night at Stone Stadium.

With the score knotted at one with 7:24 left in regulation, Furman's Jonathan Collier brought down a throw in at the edge of the six-yard box and snuck a shot along the ground and past the Davidson defense to give Furman what would turn out to be the winning advantage.

The Wildcats scratched the scoreboard first when junior Machel Turner collected the ball that was slid across the box by teammate Greg Macnamara, with Turner then knocking in a low shot into the near corner for his team-leading third goal of the season, putting the Wildcats up, 1-0.

Macnamara recorded his first career assist on the score, which came at the 6:45 mark of the first half and gave Davidson the lead going into halftime.

“It was the perfect start for us,” said Wildcat head coach Matt Spear. “To gain the upper hand on the road is critical. Greg made a great run through the heart of the Furman defense, then put it in Machel's hands to finish the play.”

Furman pulled even just under five minutes into the second half when Coleton Henning fired a shot from outside of the penalty box that found the upper right-hand corner of the net, just out of the reach of a diving Robby Goldsberry.

“I think it was a competitive conference battle,” said Spear. “Furman is very talented, we all knew that. This loss stung because the guys were fully committed to the idea that each match is unique. I think that our focus and energy were good, the result just didn't go our way.

Davidson's attack produced a number of close calls throughout the match, one of which came in the 31st minute of the match when Sophomore Alex Caskey fought through a group of Paladin defenders to start a breakaway, where he had to go through three more defenders before taking a shot from just inside the penalty box that was stopped by the Furman goalkeeper.

Then at the 31-minute mark of the second half, Davidson had a chance to go ahead when Turner, Robert O'Donnell, and Yannick Pilgrim swung the ball from left to right across the box, with Pilgrim's shot from the right side going just high.

Senior Whitey Bolan fired a team-high two shots in the match, both of which were on goal, including one header that would have found the back of the net if not for an acrobatic save by the Furman 'keeper. Turner, Pilgrim, Caskey, and Charlie Reiter all contributed one scoring chance for the 'Cats, who had a total of six overall, with four shots on goal.

Davidson held a 6-4 advantage in corner kicks over the Paladins, with Furman leading in shots as a team, 8-6.

Davidson will now return to Alumni Stadium for the first of three-straight home contests when they host the Elon Phoenix in a mid-week SoCon matchup next Wednesday, Oct. 15, with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.