0
0
No. 7 Furman netted four goals in the opening 33 minutes and cruised to a 6-1 victory over USC Upstate in non-conference men’s soccer action Tuesday evening on Seagraves Field at Stone Soccer Stadium.
With the victory, Furman improved to 6-1-3 on the season. The Spartans, who saw their three-match winning streak halted, fell to 4-5-1. Furman’s six goals and five-goal margin of victory marked its highest offensive output versus a Division I opponent since a 6-0 win over VMI on March 26, 2021.
DINS WIN!!! pic.twitter.com/3skS94xSUI
— Furman Men's Soccer (@FurmanSoccer) October 1, 2025
“We’re happy to get a victory against a USC Upstate team that has been playing really well,” said Paladin head coach Doug Allison. “We took our goals well and scored some of them off things we’ve been working on this week. Also, I’m proud to see Braden Dunham and Connor Dunnigan get their first collegiate goals tonight.”
68' | GOALLLLLLLL!!!! Dunham scores again to up the margin to 5-1! pic.twitter.com/JDpSjGrYQJ
— Furman Men's Soccer (@FurmanSoccer) October 1, 2025
Dunnigan, a junior from Jackson, Miss., opened the scoring for the Paladins just 5:48 into the match when he flicked a header past USC Upstate goalkeeper Jarrett Wuerslin on a long Dunham throw in from the left wing. Fellow junior Diego Hernandez strengthened the Furman lead with back-to-back goals in the 22nd and 25th minutes. The first came on assists from Gabe Cox and Ryan Reid while Dunnigan and Grayson Travis teamed up to assist on the Mesquite, Texas, native’s team-leading fifth score of the season at 24:59.
Dunham got on the end of a Hernandez corner kick for his first collegiate goal at the 32:06 mark before Upstate’s Lucas Bergfors pulled a goal back at 37:16 to trim the Paladin advantage to 4-1 at the break. Dunnigan assisted on Dunham’s second goal of the night in the 68th minute and junior Landon Hill capped the scoring off assists from Travis and Wilfer Bustamante at 72:43 for the final 6-1 score line.
33' | GOALLLLLLLLL!!! Braden Dunham heads in the Hernandez corner kick and the Paladins lead 4-0! pic.twitter.com/jFDcKArtgn
— Furman Men's Soccer (@FurmanSoccer) September 30, 2025
The Paladins finished with a 13-11 edge in total shots and 7-4 margin in shot on goal over the full 90 minutes. Ivan Horvat stopped two shots for the Paladins while Max Miller added a save. Wuerslin recorded one save for the Spartans.
https://x.com/FurmanSoccer/status/1973169652399296684
Furman ranked seventh by Top Drawer Soccer, 19th by College Soccer News, and No. 25 in Tuesday’s United Soccer Coaches Top 25, opens Southern Conference play on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. when it travels to Betts Stadium in Macon, Ga., to face the Mercer Bears.
Credit: Jordan Caskey Furmanpaladins.com
About the Author
