Box Score

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Despite scoring the first goal of the contest in the opening minutes, the Elon men’s soccer team could not get past the host No. 26 Furman Paladins, falling 3-1, at Stone Soccer Stadium in Southern Conference action on Saturday night. Furman (10-2-3, 2-1-1) got the go-ahead goal just before the half and staved off any Phoenix (4-8-1, 1-3-0) second-half attack to earn the league victory.

In the second minute of the match, Elon junior forward Chris Thomas dumped in his fifth goal of the season to give Elon the 1-0 advantage. Thomas managed to get a quick shot on goal that was blocked away by Paladin keeper Alex Kann, but Thomas was there to knock in the rebound from about 10 yards out and put Elon ahead at the 1:11 mark.

In the 34th minute, Furman got the equalizer off the foot of Coleton Henning. Taking a pass from Michael Gandier, Henning drove in his sixth goal of the year to the right side of the net from about 21 yards out.

The Paladins continued to pressure and netted their second goal of the night in the 44th minute of action. Gandier added to his point totals on the night, getting the go-ahead goal off a Furman corner kick. Off the corner, the ball bounced to the far post to an open Amadu Ndiaye who volleyed it back across the goalmouth where Gandier one-touched it into the net.

Just minutes into the final period, a challenge with the Paladin keeper led to an Elon red card and the Phoenix was forced to play a man down for the remainder of the contest.

Furman outshot the visitors 8-1 in the second half, padding its lead at the 61:16 mark. This time Henning had the service as Nikolai Hammer got forward on a breakaway and finished the shot in the bottom right corner for a 3-1 Furman lead.

Elon keeper Nathan Dean collected four saves while Kann was credited with two stops. The Paladins held a 17-5 advantage in the shot column and posted a 10-3 edge in corner kicks.

The Phoenix will look for its second win of the season against an ACC opponent when Elon travels to Wake Forest on Tuesday, October 18 for a 7 p.m. kick.