MELBOURNE, Fla. – Nina Lopez scored the game-tying goal in the final eight minutes to force a 2-2 draw for the No. 20 University of North Georgia (UNG) women's soccer team against No. 2 Florida Tech on Saturday afternoon.
In the opening minutes of the nationally-ranked match, the Nighthawks (11-3-1, 6-2 PBC) tested the Panthers' defense with six shots in the first 20 minutes.
Midway through the first half, North Georgia capitalized on an opportunity. Lopez intercepted a pass at midfield and moved the ball to Chloe Diaz. With Grace McGill at the top right corner of the box, Diaz delivered the pass, and McGill finished off the play with a shot sneaking past the Panther's goalkeeper to take a 1-0 lead.
The Panthers had a big response for North Georgia, scoring a pair of goals in the final three minutes of the first half. Both sides had 10 shots each in the first 45 minutes, but Florida Tech headed into the break in front 2-1.
In the second half, the Nighthawks remained resilient to chip away at the lead. With less than 10 minutes left on the clock, UNG found its equalizer.
At the 81:44 mark, Lopez sent in a corner kick that made its way past everyone into the right side of the net to tie the game.
Despite an effort from both sides to come up with the game-winner, Kayleigh Marreel came up with clutch saves down the stretch to seal the draw.
McGill and Lopez each scored their 10th goals of the 2026 campaign, becoming the second pair of Nighthawks to score double-digit goals in the same season since 2017. McGill has now recorded 10 goals in back-to-back seasons, while Lopez came up with her 10th of the year back in her hometown of Melbourne, Fla. against the Panthers.
Florida Tech (10-0-6, 4-0-4 SSC) was led by the pair of first-half goals from Ada Geier and Isabelle Bromage.
The Nighthawks will continue nonconference action with a rematch of last season's NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championship second round against Lenoir-Rhyne on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 2 p.m. at the UNG Soccer Field.
