AMERICUS, Ga. – The University of North Georgia (UNG) men's soccer team pulled out a 4-3 win over Georgia Southwestern (GSW) in its first road matchup in Peach Belt Conference play Saturday night.
The Nighthawks opened conference play on Wednesday with a 2-2 draw against No. 21 Lander. After the win on Saturday, they are now 2-2-3 (1-0-1 Peach Belt) on the year.
UNG fell behind 1-0 early in the match when GSW's Axel-Ambroise Gravel scored the opening goal of the game in the 9th minute.
However, the score would not hold long as junior midfielder
Isaac Calderon received a pass just beyond midfield from senior defender
Vukašin Lukovic.
Calderon played a ball forward beautifully to senior forward
Santiago Cano on a run. Cano, already behind the defense at the top of the 18-yard box as he received the ball, dribbled forward and planted the ball past the Hurricanes keeper for the equalizer.
The goal was Cano's second of the season as Calderon earned his second assist of the year.
Only 10 minutes later UNG took the lead with a 27th minute-goal from sophomore forward
Jorge Sandoval.
Fellow sophomore forward
Maxwell Mitchell dribbled around his defender and into the box on the near side. As Mitchell's defender slipped and hit the ground, the second-year Nighthawk paused and composed himself before whipping a beautiful cross to the six-yard box.
There Sandoval was waiting as he easily punched the ball into the net with his right foot for his first goal of the season. Mitchell was credited with his first helper of the year.
In the 33rd minute, the Nighthawks suddenly went up 3-1 after a tremendous goal from junior forward
Valen Bargagna.
GSW held possession before Bargagna ferociously tackled a Hurricane at midfield. The precise tackle gave the Rollins transfer a chance to chase the ball and possess it with space on the far side.
Bargagna then weaved his way towards the middle of the field. As he ran along the border of the penalty box, Bargagna waited a beat before finding a crease past a defender. He zipped a low shot off his left foot and into the bottom right side of the goal past the outstretched hands of GSW's Noah Kasin.
With three goals in a span of 16 minutes, the Nighthawks were firmly in the driver's seat and took a 3-1 lead into the locker room at halftime.
In the second half, UNG maintained control and limited the Hurricanes scoring opportunities to a minimum.
The Nighthawks sealed the game in the 79th minute thanks to a fine play from senior forward
Haris Osmanbasic.
After chasing down a long ball into the attacking third, Osmanbasic muscled possession away from a defender. He was all along at the front of the field and decided to go for goal. Standing near the far corner of the box, Osmanbasic made a gutsy decision and decided to aim a shot at the short side of the goal. He chipped a low line-drive towards the left post and the ball beat Kasin as he dove to his right.
Osmanbasic's hustle and determination were rewarded in the form of his first goal of the year which secured UNG's ultimate victory.
The Hurricanes scored a pair of consolation goals in the final eight minutes, one of which came from a penalty kick. The Nighthawks came away with the 4-3 victory. Four goals are the most in a game this season for UNG.
Now the Nighthawks will return home for one of their toughest tests of the season as they will welcome No. 4 Anderson to the UNG Soccer Field at Lynn Cottrell Park for a non-conference matchup on Wednesday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m.
UNG is 0-0-3 against ranked opponents this season. The Trojans stand as the final out-of-conference opponent for the Nighthawks this season and are the only remaining team on UNG's schedule currently ranked in the top 25 of the United Soccer Coaches Association poll.
