DAHLONEGA – The No. 9 University of North Georgia (UNG) women's soccer team blanked Georgia College 2-0 at the UNG Soccer Complex on Wednesday evening to extend its unbeaten league record to nine wins and clinch the conference regular season title for the second time in the last three years.
North Georgia (13-1-1, 9-0-0 PBC) struck early and never looked back, using first-half goals from
Chloe Diaz and
Bailey Oetinger over a 15-minute span. The Nighthawks outshot the Bobcats 10-0, controlling possession throughout the match.
Behind a composed back line anchored by
Alex Clark,
Alizee Buresi,
Malia Burkes and
Alexa Aronoff, UNG held Georgia College (7-4-3, 5-1-2 PBC) without a single shot attempt on frame to end the Bobcats' eight-match unbeaten streak. Goalkeeper
Isabelle Lee earned the shutout without facing a shot on goal in her full 90 minutes of action.
Diaz opened the scoring in the 18th minute, finishing cleanly inside the box for her second goal of the season to put UNG ahead 1-0. Oetinger doubled the margin in the 33rd minute when she collected a feed from
Grace McGill and slotted home her seventh goal, giving the Nighthawks a two-goal advantage heading into halftime.
The Nighthawks also earned a 7-0 edge in shots on goal and a 3-2 advantage in corner kicks. Oetinger and McGill combined for five of North Georgia's 10 total attempts, while
Kamora Hall added a dangerous look off the bench.
The PBC regular season title secures hosting rights through the duration of the league's conference tournament in November. Additionally, head coach
Kayley Ralton becomes the first UNG coach to win multiple regular season conference championships in program history.
The Nighthawks will next step out of conference action with a road trip to face (RV) Lenoir-Rhyne on Wednesday, Oct. 29. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. in Hickory, N.C.
