Sept. 28, 2007

Greenville, S.C. - The 25th-ranked Furman men's soccer team begins its quest for a Southern Conference title Saturday when it hosts Georgia Southern in a 3 p.m. contest at Eugene Stone III Soccer Stadium.

The Paladins' SoCon inaugural pits the home side against a Georgia Southern squad that finished second in the SoCon a year ago and advanced to the league's tournament championship match. The Eagles and Paladins played to a scoreless draw in the regular season meeting in Statesboro, Ga., last season before Georgia Southern upended Furman 1-0 at Stone Stadium in the SoCon semifinals. Furman holds a 15-3-2 series lead over Georgia Southern.

The Paladins, 7-1-0 on the season after a 1-0 overtime loss at nationally-ranked Washington last weekend, are 14-4-1 in their last 19 outings dating back to last season. Furman's 0.25 goals against average currently leads the country while its 2.88 goal scored per match ranks second nationally. Furman has outscored its opposition by a combined total of 23-2 this season.

The match marks Furman's first home contest since downing Jacksonville 4-1 in the Diadora/Spinx Furman Invitational finale on September 9.