| School – Furman |
| Conference – Southern |
| Coach – Doug Allison – 21st season |
| Background – Furman is a tradition rich program with a roster that always includes plenty of talented and soccer savvy players. The Paladins were 12-5-5 overall in 2014 with a 5-4-1 mark in conference play. They won the Southren Conference Tournament to earn their ninth invite to the NCAA Tournament and returned to the field for the first time since the 2011 season. In the first round of the NCAA Tournament Furman advanced past UAB in a match that was decieded by a penalty kick shootout after the contest was tied 1-1 at the end of regularion and overtime. Their season subsequently came to an end in the second round after they came out on the short end of penatly kick shootout after they were tied 0-0 with Washington. The Paladins had somewhat of an up and down season but they finished strong going unbeaten in their final five matches and had a 7-1-2 record in their last ten contests. |
| Offense – Players who scored 27 of Furman's 28 goals last year are slated to return in 2015. Juniors Bobby Edet (5g, 1a) and Lewis Hawke (9g, 2a) who were Second Team All-Southern Conference selections in 2014 return up-top to power the Furman attack. Senior Kevin Pahl (2g, 5a) who was a Second Team All-Southren Conference selection and senior Tony Santibanez (0g, 5a) will add additional punch to the attack. Senior holding midfielder Adrian McInnis (1g, 0a), a 2014 Southern Conference Second Team selection, and junior Marco Ortiz (2g, 3a) are among other returning starters who give the Paladins a solid and expereinced group of midfielders. |
| Defense – The Paladins must replace senior Clint Ritter (1g, 0a) who was a multi-year starter. However a very solid group returns on the defensive side of the ball. Senior Sven Lissek who had a 0.59 goals against average with twelve shoutouts last year returns between the pipes to anchor a Paladin defense that allowed a total of only fourteen goals last year. Junior center back Kevin Edelmann returns to anchor the backline along with senior Eric Steber and sophomore center back Kyle McLagan who was named to the Southern Conferene All-Freshman Team. Sophomore Brendan Richardson will also be in the mix as a defensive midfielder or a back. |
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Newcomers – Four Star Recruiting Class Furman head coach Doug Allison stated, "This is a very strong, talented recrutiting class that we believe will add to our program, univeristy, and community in very positive ways. Each player brings in unique qualities and characteristics that truly represnet what our soccer program is all about. We have six great young men in this class." Josiah Baker – Midfielder – Lawrenceville, Georgia, Grayson High School – Ranked by CSN as the number 127 recruit in the class of 2015. Played for Georgia United in the U.S. Development Academy League. Marco Carrizales – Midfielder – Dallas, Texas – Junior transfer from SMU. Played club soccer for FC Dallas Development Academy. Participated in the U-15 and U-17 U.S. Youth National Team pools. Danny Kierath – Midfielder – Loganville, Georgia – Grayson High School – Ranked by CSN as the number 54 recruit in the class of 2015. Gwinnette County Player of the Year. Member of the Region III ODP team. Played for Kalonji Soccer Association. Braden Myus – Midfielder – Greenville, South Carolina – Greenville Southside Christian School – Played club soccer for South Carolina United Battery. Member of the Region III ODP pool. Dalton Souder – Defender – Lee's Summitt, Missouri – Lee's Summitt Senior High School – Played club soccer for Kansas Rush Academy and Billy Goat FC. First Team All-State. 2014 Missouri Defensive Player of the Year. Nosh Teplitzky – Midfielder – Cincinnati, Ohio – Darlington School – Played for the Darlington Soccer Academy. Played for Liverpool FC, Bristol City and Stoke City. |
| Prognosis for 2015 – With ten starters returning from the 2014 team supplemented by a very impressive recruiting class the Paladins should be very competitive in 2015. Edet and Hawkes give Furman a solid one-two punch up-top. The midfield will be experienced and deep and the backline lead by Kevin Edelmann should be rock solid. Senior Sven Lissek gives the Paladins a very solid and talented presence in goal. The experience the Paladins gained last year and the confidence they gained from their succes down the home stretch should bode well for the Paladins and also make them hungry for more in 2015. There was a time when Furman dominated the Southern Conference but the parity that now exists in the conference makes it difficult for any team to do that anymore. Nonetheless, Furman remains a program that always contends for the Southern Conference championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament and will no doubt do so again in 2015. |
