DAHLONEGA – The No. 19 University of North Georgia (UNG) women's soccer team caught fire early Wednesday evening, scoring three goals in the first half to pull away from Georgia Southwestern in a 4-0 win.
For the 10th time this season, the Nighthawks (9-3, 4-2 PBC) struck first. Less than six minutes into the match, North Georgia maneuvered into the attacking third, finding Nina Lopez open at the top of the box. Lopez split a pair of defenders and pushed a strike past the keeper to give the Nighthawks an early lead.
UNG continued to put pressure on GSW's back line early. Four minutes later, Mady Neff passed the ball to Grace McGill streaking toward the box. McGill got a touch on the ball and sent her sixth goal of the season into the back of the net to quickly double the lead to 2-0.
Looking to respond, the Lady Hurricanes broke away past the Nighthawks' defense for a shot on Kayleigh Marreel, who dove to the turf to keep the 2-0 advantage intact.
The Nighthawks stayed on the front foot in the first half. At the 20:28 mark, McGill sent a pass along the ground to a speedy Angelina Noorbehesht, who was running into the box. The sophomore forward beat the defense and delivered a strike over the GSW keeper to extend the lead to 3-0.
Coming out of the halftime break, the Lady Hurricanes tried to capitalize on a few windows of opportunity, but North Georgia's back line and Briana Hill shut them down. The junior defender stepped in the way of several runs to cut off GSW's momentum.
The Nighthawks put the exclamation point on their strong offensive performance at the 82:15 mark. Lopez drove a free kick past the GSW keeper for her second goal of the night to cushion the advantage at 4-0.
North Georgia's defense stood strong until the final whistle. The Nighthawks held the Lady Hurricanes (1-4-5, 0-2-3 PBC) to just six shots to secure their fourth shutout of the season.
Lopez led the Nighthawks with her second brace of the season, extending her PBC-leading goal total to nine. The junior forward has already matched her goal total from last season, just 12 games into the 2026 campaign.
McGill continues to lead the league in assists, recording her ninth of the season Wednesday evening. The win also marked McGill's third game this year in which she has recorded a goal and an assist in the same match.
The Nighthawks bring a three-game win streak into a stretch of three-straight away matches. The road stand starts on Saturday, Oct. 10 against Middle Georgia at 1:30 p.m. in Cochran, Ga.
