Dunham's stunning goal sends Paladins to Cary

Braden Dunham's 40-yard goal lifted Furman to a 1-0 win at Portland in the
NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament quarterfinals. Photo courtesy of Furman

The Furman men's soccer team capped off one of its longest road trips ever with one of its longest goals ever to extend its longest NCAA Tournament run ever. Freshman Braden Dunham's incredible 40-yard strike in the 75th minute lifted the 16th-seeded Paladins to a 1-0 win at eighth-seeded Portland in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament late Friday night.

With its first ever win in the Elite Eight, Furman has punched its ticket to the College Cup - the final four of men's soccer. After the long road trip to Oregon last week, the Paladins (16-1-5) get to stay in the Carolinas this weekend as Cary, N.C. is the host city of the College Cup. Furman will face unseeded Washington in the first semifinal match Friday at 6 p.m. at First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park. Saint Louis and No. 15-seed N.C. State will face off in the second semifinal. The winners will meet in the national championship next Monday. All of the College Cup matches will air on ESPNU.

"I can't say enough about these players. To come on the road in this environment and get the victory is unbelievable," said Furman coach Doug Wilson, whose impending retirement after 31 seasons will once again be happily delayed. "What a goal by Braden. It took about 30 minutes to go in, but that's the kind of goal it takes to win a game like this."

The length of Dunham's goal was nearly as surprising as the circumstances that led up to it. Five minutes earlier, a Portland team that had a 9-3 advantage on shots on goal just missed one of its best scoring chances on a deflection by Furman goalkeeper Ivan Horvat. Ironically, Dunham just missed deflecting the entry pass on a leaping attempt at a clearing header and then grabbed his right calf in pain after landing.

A shot off the rebound by the Pilots sailed just wide of the right side of the goal. One minute later, the Paladins nearly broke the scoreless deadlock but Landon Hill's strike bounced off the cross bar. Just 37 seconds later, Horvat made another save on an acrobatic shot by Portland's David Ajagbe. Following an errant throw by Horvat, the Pilots immediately regained possession and Horvat made up for it with another diving save just 15 seconds after his previous one.

It was Furman's turn to go on the offensive a couple of minutes later. Gianluca Rizzo's shot was denied on a diving deflection by Portland goalkeeper Miguel-Angel Hernandez. The Pilots gathered the loose ball and with many of the Paladins still near the goal, Portland had a 3-on-1 attack as it crossed midfield. That one was Furman defender Ryan Wagner, who picked up a yellow card just three minutes earlier. Wagner showed no fear of a second, disqualifying yellow when he made a sensational sliding tackle using all of his 6-foot-4 frame to knock the ball free and thwart Portland's threat.

The ball went right to Dunham, who had lost his man to make it a 3-on-1 attack for the Pilots. Dunham shook that off as he calmly dribbled past midfield. With so much action at the net over the previous five minutes, it was like nobody was expecting what happened next. With Hernandez outside near the left of the goal, Dunham launched a rocket with his left foot to the back right corner of the net. Hernandez didn't even have a chance to position himself for a leaping save. He could only helplessly watch after turning and racing to the right side as the ball sailed over his head.

"Oh my God!," exclaimed the ESPN+ play-by-play commentator. That echoed the thoughts of everyone in attendance as a raucous crowd of 4,252 fans fell into stunned silence, except for the contingent of Furman fans.

"I didn't really have an option to pass," Dunham said. "I looked at the line, looked at the goalkeeper, and I gave it a rip. Tried my best to hit it on target and was fortunate enough to have it go in."

It wasn't over.

After seeing a 3-1 lead against Hofstra disappear in a span of 68 seconds the previous week, Furman was well aware that there was no time for celebrating just yet.

The Pilots (14-2-4) had four corner kicks and multiple free kicks over the final 11 minutes. One free kick came with two minutes left and Diego Rojas' shot was deflected over the top of the net by a leaping Horvat. It was the seventh and final save of the Southern Conference Goalkeeper of the Year's eighth shutout this season. The final corner kick followed and Sebastian Hernandez' header off of it sailed just over the left crossbar. 

Horvat's last save wasn't Furman's final one. After another free kick, Horvat moved well out front of the net looking to corral the ball with about 30 seconds left. Portland's Alex Waggoner was behind Horvat when he sent a looping header that was going into the net, but Furman freshman Luke Munson had positioned himself just inside the line and lunged up and forward to make an incredible clearing header. Horvat dove to punch away the rebound and Hernandez made contact with him resulting in a foul which essentially sealed the win for the Paladins.

In extending the nation's best unbeaten streak to 14 consecutive games, Furman also snapped Portland's 19-match unbeaten streak at home. Prior to Friday, the Pilots had gone 15-0-4 at Merlo Field since a 2-0 loss to Saint Louis there on Sept. 13, 2024. The Paladins are just the second SoCon team to ever compete in the College Cup. Former league member Davidson did so in 1992.