Nighthawks fall to Anderson in OT

DAHLONEGA -- Anderson mounted a massive comeback and dampened UNG's Spirit Night festivities as the Trojans rallied back from a 3-0 deficit to escape with a 4-3 overtime victory over North Georgia Wednesday.

Benoit Torres capped the furious rally by depositing the golden goal game-winner just 1:23 into the overtime period.

The host Nighthawks opened the match with energetic play and dominated the offensive end of the field. UNG's Tyler Daly opened the scoring in the 12th minute when he slipped the ball past Anderson keeper Devon Ashy in the top right corner. The assist was credited to Jamie Gleeson. The duo would reverse roles at the 26:24 mark with Daly feeding Gleeson with a through ball to extend the Nighthawk lead to 2-0. The goals were the first of the season for the pair of forwards.

At the 34:08 mark, freshman forward Eddie Hurst would register his first collegiate goal when he bounced a header attempt past Ashy to extend the UNG lead to 3-0 at intermission. Classmate Zach Tibbs afforded Hurst with the scoring opportunity with a helping cross.

Anderson's rally would be started by a Brad Du Plooy goal in the 51st minute after a through ball played by teammate Henrique Gazzi. The Trojans flipped the table and held possession for the bulk of the second period as they would outshoot the Nighthawks 9-4 after intermission.

An unassisted goal by AU's Aaron Roberson just over five minutes later would cut the UNG lead to 3-2 and the freshman forward would find the equalizer in the 78th minute on an assist from Matthias Schyberg.

Just 83 seconds into the overtime Benoit Torres would pick a good time for his first goal of the season when he ended the game with a goal in the bottom right corner of the goal after Gazzi helped with his second assist of the night.

Anderson would end the night with a 19-13 advantage in shots including a 10-4 differential in shots on frame. AU's Bo Haug would replace Ashy at halftime and record 46:23 of scoreless action in between the pipes for the Trojans. Both AU goalkeepers would record a pair of saves. UNG's Kris Alonzo collected six saves in 10 chances for the Nighthawks.

The victory moves Anderson to 6-2-1 on the season while the Nighthawks fall to 1-8.

UNG returns to action on Saturday, October 5 when the team travels to Florence, S.C. to take on Francis Marion University in Peach Belt action.