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Spartanburg, S.C. – Tyler Peoples scored on a diving header with less than two minutes to play to lift the 22nd-ranked Furman Paladins to a 1-0 victory over a determined USC Upstate Spartans team in non-conference men's soccer action Friday night at County University Soccer Stadium.
Peoples' goal put a cap on what was a vastly entertaining game, one that saw both teams miss on golden chances. In the end, a combination with Tony Santibanez sending a cross from left to right to Eric Steber and Steber playing the ball into Peoples on the near post, made the difference.
Upstate fell to 2-4-1 with the loss. The Spartans will travel to Rock Hill, S.C., Tuesday to close out non-conference play against Winthrop. Furman improved to 6-1-1 on the year with the win.
"I couldn't be more proud of our guys," said Upstate head coach Greg Hooks. "It seems like it is like this every game. It is going to be a one-goal game. Both teams had chances, but couldn't cash in on open goals. We had chances, they had chances. Their keeper had to make some big plays, and their guys did what they were supposed to do and Dani made saves for us. It's been this way all season long. It was a great effort by our guys and I am so proud of the effort they gave."
The battle for possession was fierce in the first half and neither team was able to get many opportunities early on. The teams combined for one solid scoring chance each in the first 20 minutes.
Dani Alvarado (Leander, Texas) came up big for Upstate in the 21st minute when he made a diving save on Walker Zimmerman's second shot, a rebound of his own shot.
Zimmerman's flurry seemed to open up things for the rest of the half as the Paladins went on to take nine shots, forcing Alvarado to make six saves in the period. Furman narrowly missed taking a 1-0 lead when Martin Ontiveros's shot nicked the post and went wide late in the half.
Both Upstate and Furman had opportunities early in the second half after fouls, but each time the player taking the free kicks put the ball over the goal. Furman nearly broke on top in the 55th minute when Ontiveros played a cross to the far post, but a sliding Clint Ritter could not get enough on his touch and the shot went over the goal.
After a Furman foul in the 60th minute, Dave Musambi (Ottawa, Ontario) narrowly missed a goal on the ensuing free kick. His bending shot went just wide of the goal to keep the game scoreless. Just two minutes later, Upstate again had a golden opportunity. Marvin Schmiege (Berlin, Germany) played a ball to the far post and Dylan Hoop (Hamilton, Ohio) had gotten behind his defender. However, his touch went over the bar.
Musambi again nearly put Upstate on top in the 72nd minute when he faked his defender and put a shot on goal which was saved by a diving Doug Ryan. Furman also had a golden opportunity when, after a foul, Josh Lietch put a low shot on frame, but Alvarado made a great diving save.
Perhaps the best opportunity of the night to that point came with just under 10 minutes to play when Taylor Scalera (Dacula, Ga.) was played a through ball and was one-on-one with Furman's keeper. But, he couldn't get enough on his shot to get it past Ryan. Furman had a one-on-one opportunity of its own with Coleton Henning placing a shot wide two minutes later.
In what was an entertaining match, one that you hate to see anyone lose, Furman came out on top on Peoples' goal in the 89th minute.
Furman owned the lead in shots for the game, 20-10. Alvarado reached double digits in saves for the second time this season, finishing the game with 10. Ryan made three saves for the Paladins.
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