Nov. 3, 2009

Greenville, S.C. - Nick Schuermann netted three goals off corner kicks to lift Wofford over Furman 4-3 and hand the Terriers their first Southern Conference regular season title before a crowd of 1,256 on Tuesday evening at Stone Soccer Stadium.

Wofford, who improved to 9-2-3 overall and 5-1-1 in the SoCon, earned the right to host the SoCon Tournament on November 13 and 15, at Snyder Field in Spartanburg, S.C., by virtue of its first place finish. Furman falls to 8-7-2 overall and 3-3-0 in league play. The Paladins are still alive to earn a bid in the four-team league tournament with a win at the College of Charleston in their regular season finale next week.

Wofford wasted little time taking control of the match. Wilson Hood dribbled down the left channel and laced a curling shot into the right side of goal just 1:39 into the match to give Wofford a 1-0 lead. Schuermann doubled the lead at 4:57, redirecting Yakov Rubinchik's corner kick inside the far post for his third goal of the campaign and first of three on the night. Less than 15 minutes later, Schuermann rose above the crowd once again to hammer a Branson Hyatt corner kick inside the far post to give Wofford a 3-0 advantage at 18:47.

Furman got on the board in the 53rd minute to trim the lead down to 3-1. Jordan Howard played a 37-yard free kick into the box that slipped between several players and into the far right side of the net for his fifth goal of the season. Shortly after the hour mark, Eric Cobleigh played a low cross into the box and Alex Crooks slid through the six-yard box to tap a shot past Wofford goalkeeper Thomas Hunter and cut the lead to 3-2 at 62:32.

With Furman looking for the equalizer, the Terriers quickly answered less than a minute later as Schuermann headed in another Rubinchik corner kick for his third tally to up the Wofford cushion to 4-2 in the 64th minute. Furman, who outshot the Terriers 10-5 after intermission, continued to apply pressure to the Wofford defense and found a third goal with less than six minutes remaining as Nasarachi Onyeuku tapped a Crooks cross into an open net at 84:04.

Furman held a 12-11 edge in shot attempts with each team directing five shots on goal. Hunter earned the victory with two saves for the Terriers while Furman's Alec Kann stopped one shot.

Furman concludes the regular season on November 10, with a 3 p.m. contest against Charleston at Patriots Point in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.