Greenville, S.C. - Freshmen Walker Zimmerman and Nikolai Hammer each netted a goal to lead 23rd-ranked Furman past USC Upstate, 2-1, and extend the Paladins' unbeaten streak to nine matches on Tuesday night at Stone Soccer Stadium.

The victory improved Furman to 8-1-2 on the season while the Spartans dipped to 3-4-0.

Zimmerman, a defender from Lawrenceville, Ga., opened the scoring just 1:20 into the match. The 6-foot-3 captain of the U.S. U-18 National Team dribbled through a pair of Upstate defenders before playing a give-and-go with Coleton Henning and finishing from close range for his third tally of the season.

Hammer doubled the Furman advantage at 63:22 with his first collegiate goal. Henning played Clint Ritter down the right wing and the freshman curled a low cross into the path of Hammer who headed connected on a driving header from six yards out to beat Upstate keeper Jason McCabe with the eventual game-winning goal.

Furman's Alec Kann, who tallied his 31st career victory in goal, stopped four Spartan shot before Upstate registered a consolation goal on Chad McCoy's header off of a Derek Dearmond corner kick at the 89:06 mark.

The Paladins pressured the Upstate defense throughout the match and built a 22-10 edge in shot attempts, including a 12-5 margin in shots on goal. McCabe saved eight Paladin shots and the Spartans' defense cleared two shots off of the goal line to keep Upstate within striking distance.

Furman returns to action this coming Saturday when it travels to Greensboro, N.C., to open Southern Conference play against the UNC Greensboro Spartans. The contest, set for a 7 p.m. kickoff, is a rematch of last year's SoCon Tournament final which UNCG won 1-0.

Appalachian State 1, UNC Asheville 1 (2 OT)

BOONE, N.C. - ASU's Ryan Lavigne (San Diego, Calif. / Sycamore / Cincinnati) notched his third goal of the season but the Mountaineers surrendered a second-half goal, as Appalachian men's soccer tied visiting UNC Asheville, 1-1, in front of a record crowd Tuesday night at ASU Soccer Stadium. Appalachian's record stands at 4-2-2, while UNC Asheville moves to 1-5-2 (0-1 Big South).

Boone's High Country Soccer Association sponsored a "Pack the Mack" event to draw increased fans. The game's attendance of 727 marked a new stadium record for the Ted Mackorell Soccer Complex.

Lavigne's goal came early. In only the eighth minute, junior Lee Williams (Liverpool, England / Hillside) spotted his classmate from quarter field and fed a well-placed ball. Lavigne fired his shot from the top of the box and found the back of the net for his team-high third score of the year.

UNC Asheville leveled the score early in the second half. In the 51st minute, Bobby Castro fed David Wood deep in ASU territory. Wood drew ASU keeper Danny Free (Doncaster, England / Hall Cross School) off his line and lofted the shot in from 18 yards. Wood's equalizer was his first goal of the season.

Appalachian maintained offensive pressure throughout the half, recording 12 shots in the period and building a 19-6 advantage in shots overall. The Mountaineers also forced 12 corner kicks compared to the Bulldogs' four.

In the end, the Apps failed to penetrate past UNCA keeper Lassi Herskanen, and the teams walked away with a 1-1 draw.

Free finished with two saves in net, while ASU's Sekani Sinclair (Parkland, Fla. / Marjory Stoneman Douglas) notched a game-high six shots.

"On the whole, we played well," commented ASU coach Matt Nelson. "We made some mistakes that we have to correct, but their keeper played a great game. We created a lot of chances and had shots go off the post; our performance was good."

With its initial non-conference games in the book, Appalachian's focus now turns to its conference slate. "Now it matters," added Nelson. "Heading into the conference games, it's time to really focus." The Mountaineers travel to Elon (2-5-1) for their first league game on Saturday, Oct. 1.