DeLand, Fla. - The Stetson men's soccer team (2-4) suffered its fourth straight defeat Friday evening with a 3-1 loss to visiting Furman (5-1-1) to open its portion of the annual Stetson Soccer Classic at the Stetson Soccer Complex. Sophomore defender Raffaele Centofanti (Miami Lakes, Fla.) scored his second goal of the season for the Hatters.
The Paladins, who are listed in the Others Receiving Votes category in this week's National Soccer Coaches Associate of America Top 25 Poll, took a 2-0 lead into halftime and used a quick goal just 60 seconds after the second half whistle to seize control of the match for good.
Martin Ontiveros got Furman started with an unassisted goal in the 22nd minute; 12 minutes later it was George Fradenburg heading home a long cross from Jacob Brown to make it 2-0 Paladins. The visitors got the backbreaking goal right at the beginning of the second half when Daniel Hojaij played a re-start off a Stetson foul deep into the box; the ball bounced through a crowd in front of the net and past a screened Stetson goalkeeper Andreas Schnabl (Blaichach, Germany).
The Hatters finally cracked the scoreboard in the 78th minute when a nice session of give-and-go resulted in senior forward Joakim Helland (Bergen, Norway) finding the foot of Centofanti, who rifled a shot past Furman goalkeeper Alec Fann to make the score 3-1. Although Stetson had several more opportunities, the Paladins kept the Hatters silent the rest of the way to seal their fifth straight victory.
Fann and Schnabl made five saves apiece; Stetson out-shot Furman 13-12 in the match. In today's other match from the Stetson Soccer Classic, Temple took an early 3-0 lead and then narrowly held on to record a 3-2 win over Atlantic Sun Conference squad Jacksonville.
The Stetson Soccer Classic wraps up Sunday when the Hatters host Temple at 2:00 pm; the Stetson women's soccer team takes their turn at facing Furman immediately prior at 11:00 am. Hatter Vision and Live Stats for both matches are available at GoHatters.com, the official online home of Stetson Athletics.
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