DAHLONEGA – Three seniors scored for the University of North Georgia (UNG) men's soccer team as the Nighthawks closed out the regular season with a 3-0 victory over Rollins on Senior Day.
The Nighthawks (11-2-5, 6-2-4 PBC) picked up their 11th win of the year, marking the winningest season under head coach Anel Lilic. They have also tied the 1996 UNG men's soccer team with the second-most wins in a single season since 1993.
North Georgia tested Rollins' back line early on Saturday afternoon. A pair of Nighthawk seniors, Steven Barrier and Rafael Kawata, fired off a handful of shots in the opening minutes to try and open up the scoring.
The Nighthawks continued to press the defense in the first half, and in the closing minutes, the seniors delivered.
At the 38-minute mark, Barrier blasted a shot towards the goal that was deflected by the Tars' goalkeeper. The ball found the feet of senior Dženan Cerimagic in the center of the box, who rifled his fifth goal of the season into the top right corner of the goal to put the Nighthawks in front.
North Georgia kept the momentum on its side to close out the half. Three minutes after Cerimagic's goal, Kawata sent in a free kick that clipped the crossbar and bounced into the goal to double the North Georgia lead.
Coming out of the halftime break, UNG picked up right where it left off in the first 45 minutes. At the 53:13 mark, Kawata sent the ball forward to Barrier streaking down the field. With one defender to beat, Barrier crossed to his right and scored the first goal of his North Georgia career to push the score to 3-0.
North Georgia defense held on to keep the Tars off the board. The Nighthawks limited Rollins to 10 shots while securing 17 of their own.
UNG's senior goalkeeper Aleksa Lukic stepped up and recorded his third clean sheet of the season while coming up with a pair of saves.
With the regular season in the books, the Nighthawks have their sights set on the 2026 Peach Belt Conference Tournament. As the No. 2 seed, North Georgia will host its quarterfinal matchup on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 3:30 p.m. at the UNG Soccer Field.
