DAHLONEGA, Ga. – A three-minute span late in the first half defined Wednesday night’s match as Clayton State scored three goals between the 32-nd and 35-th minutes to build a lead the University of North Georgia men’s soccer team was never able to overcome, defeating UNG, 5-2, in front of a standing room only crowd at the UNG Soccer Complex. The Nighthawks slip to 9-9 on the season and are now 6-3 in the Peach Belt Conference.

An early second half goal by Eddie Hurst gave some hope to the UNG faithful in the 58th minute but the Lakers struck again less than three minutes later to reclaim their three goal lead. CSU’s Ryan King picked up a hat-trick in the 83rd finishing off a short cross in front of goal.

Ivan Acimovic scored off a long ball in from Jordan Day to pull the game back within three, but the 5-2 score would stand for the final five minutes.

NOTES
– The loss snapped UNG’s three game winning streak, which was the longest winning streak since 2012.

– Despite having a tough season, Clayton State continues its dominance in the all-time series against North Georgia with a 14-1-2 advantage against the Nighthawks. Last year’s match was the only win for UNG in the series.

NEXT UP
The Nighthawks are guaranteed to host a Peach Belt Conference Tournament quarterfinal match on Tuesday, Nov. 1. The opponent and time for the match will be released after conference play concludes this weekend.

DAHLONEGA, Ga. – Senior forward Jacy Ramey scored her first career hat-trick as the 19th-ranked University of North Georgia women’s soccer team raced past Clayton State, 5-0, Wednesday evening at the UNG Soccer Complex. The Nighthawks advance to 11-1-3 on the year with an 8-1-2 mark in the Peach Belt Conference.

Ramey opened the scoring in the eighth minute of the match as she fired a shot from outside the box off the glove of the Lakers goalkeeper and snuck in just under the crossbar to put UNG up 1-0. Mollie Arrendale added to the lead in the 38th with a chip shot over the keeper coming off a long ball in from Sophia Matonak that extended the lead to 2-0, which is the score the Nighthawks would take into halftime.

A quick pass from Megan Gil to Brynn Finneran led to a pass finding the foot Ramey inside the box as the senior finished the play to extend the lead to 3-0. Ramey found her third goal just minutes later in the 62nd with a header that evaded the aggressive CSU kicker who was coming up to try and block another possible shot by Arrendale who was in the vicinity.

Arrendale netted the final goal of the match in the 82-nd minute off a double assist from Gil and Renee VanHorn to give the game its final 5-0 score.

NOTES
– With the victory UNG secured at least a top four finish in the PBC, meaning the Nighthawks will host a conference tournament quarterfinal match on Wednesday, Nov. 2.

– Ramey’s hat-trick was the second of the season for UNG and 10th in program history.

– The game snapped Rachel VanHorn‘s six match scoring streak.

– The win pulls the all-time series with Clayton State back to even at 8-8-2. UNG has won three of the last four matches against the Lakers.

NEXT UP
The Nighthawks will wrap up the regular season on Sunday, Oct. 30 at Armstrong State. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – For the third consecutive week, University of North Georgia forward Rachel VanHorn has been named the Peach Belt Conference Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday. VanHorn continued her impressive play with three goals and an assist in UNG’s two games last week.

The Marietta native scored two goals in UNG’s 8-0 win over Georgia Southwestern and then added a goal and an assist in a hard-fought 3-3 tie at UNC Pembroke. In that contest, she scored the Nighthawks’ first goal to tie the match at 1-1 and then had an assist on the third goal that gave the team a 3-2 lead. Her two goals at GSW give her four multi-goal games in her last five outings.

VanHorn leads the PBC with 15 goals scored this season which is also among the top 10 in the nation.

The No. 12 Nighthawks will welcome Clayton State to the friendly confines of the UNG Soccer Complex on Wednesday, Oct. 26 for the final regular season home match of the 2016 season. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m.