Cougars Fall 3-2 to Paladins in Waning Minutes

Friday, August 25

Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

7:30 PM

College of Charleston

0-1

Furman

1-0

Furman

Col. of Charleston

Photo by: Al Samuels

8/26/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – The College of Charleston men's soccer team (0-1) dropped a heartbreaker in front of a packed crowd for Friday Night Futbol at Patriots Point, falling 3-2 to the Furman Paladins after giving up two goals in the final five minutes of play.

• The Cougars came out the gates firing, and after earning an early free kick in the corner, Jake Nicholson got the action started. The freshman sent a quality feed into the box, where senior Eli Dent gobbled up the rebound to score low and away and lift the Cougars to a 1-0 lead just two minutes into the game.

• CofC held Furman without a shot for nearly the entirety of the first half, but that changed suddenly with less than two minutes to play in the period. Connor Hubbard received the ball inside the box with his back to the net, turned and fired low, and just like that the game was knotted up 1-1 headed into halftime.

(8/25/2017) M. Soccer - Furman at CofC, Aug 25, 2017

• The two teams remained grid-locked for the first 37 minutes of the second half, until a flurry of goals finished off the night. That began when Matt Nozedar received the ball at the top of the box, charged his way through defenders, and fired true to put the College back on top in the 83^rd minute. Nozedar came into the match red-hot, having scored three goals during the Cougars' exhibition season.

• With less than five minutes to play and the game seemingly decided, Furman suddenly and dramatically flipped the script with two quick goals off set pieces. Danny Kierath assisted on a pair of head-ins in the 86^th and 89^th minutes, and with that Furman was able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

The Cougars return to action on Sunday to take on the Monmouth Hawks (1-0) on day two of the Aaron Olitsky Memorial Soccer Classic. That game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., following the conclusion of the previous game between Furman and Georgia Southern.