DAHLONEGA | After taking an early 3-0 lead, the University of North Georgia men’s soccer team held off the visiting Emmanuel College Lions in yet another high scoring decision for the Nighthawks. With the hard-fought 5-4 victory the Nighthawks improve to 3-3 on the season.

Action came rather early for the Nighthawks with the header from Rahmy Baky made possible by a deflection by Eddie Hurst off a cross in the 11th minute.

After a penalty kick by Eddie Hurst in the 15th minute the momentum kept rolling for the Nighthawks in the 17th as Jarrod Smalley, only seconds off the bench, scored off the cross from Matt Shaftoe.

Battling back from a 3-0 deficit, Emmanuel struck back with two quick goals off set pieces. The first coming from Fitzy Fitz Gerald, assisted by Sam Mutton in the 30th minute. The second goal came two minutes later, in the 32nd from Michael Williams, assisted by Nico Becker.

The first half score line continued to roll in the 37th minute as Evan Davis scored his first goal of the season off of a free kick assisted by Matt Shaftoe and Eren Ozer.

The Lions came back from the break hungry for a goal, and would strike early in the 2nd minute of the half. The goal came from a header by Channing Park, just inches from the net, after a cross in from Blair Springhall.

Eddie Hurst scored his second goal of the night off a long cross in from Kevin Glendon in the 67th minute.

The final goal of the 5-4 match came from a North Georgia own goal by Fabian Abarca in the 74th minute.

NOTES
– Tonight’s victory pulled the Nighthawks back to .500 on the season. It is the first time UNG has been at or above .500 after the first six games of the season since 2012, which was also a 3-3 start. North Georgia finished the season at 7-7-2 that year.

– After snapping a streak of 85 games in which UNG had not scored five or more goals in a game on Monday at Shorter, the Nighthawks pulled off the feat again in today’s match. It is the first time in the NCAA-era that UNG has scored five or more goals in consecutive games.

STAT OF THE DAY
2 – North Georgia’s Eddie Hurst scored two goals off five shots for the Nighthawks, making it the second two-goal game for Hurst, the last coming against Pfeiffer University in 2014.

NEXT UP
North Georgia will host the visiting Tornadoes of King University at 4 p.m. on Monday, September 19 as part of Lumpkin County First Responders Day.