DAHLONEGA — A comeback for the ages with a spot in the Peach Belt Conference tournament championship on the line ended in a penalty shootout, with the No. 22 University of North Georgia women’s soccer team taking the shootout 4-3 after ending regulation 2-2, making their way back from a late 2-0 deficit.
A nightmare began to unfold for the top-seeded Nighthawks as Lander scored once in the eighth minute and again in the 29th minute, on their way to hand North Georgia the first loss at home and in PBC play of the season. Looking for answers, UNG trailed by two goals at the break, needing to make a run to stay alive.
A determined squad exited the locker room but could not cut into the Bearcat lead before a ball sent inside the box by Cat Watry found the head of Bailey Vessell. A save for Lander on the Vessell header led to a bouncing ball inside the box as Natalie Maguire cleaned up the rebound, ending the shutout and cutting the lead in half.
With just three minutes left on the clock, still trailing by one, Cat Watry dipped into her bag of tricks again, scoring off an assist by Adleigh Wheeler to tie the game in the 87th minute and force overtime. The two sides couldn’t settle the score in the 20 minutes of overtime, moving into a penalty shootout to decide who would head to the PBC tournament title game.
The Bearcats and Nighthawks made their first two attempts before a Lander save, which put UNG at a disadvantage. Sierra Fowler stepped to the spot to tie it at three a piece, needing to score and make a save to keep North Georgia’s hopes alive. Fowler executed on her PK attempt, making two straight saves as North Georgia made the rest, completing the comeback to advance.
In the championship match, the Nighthawks will face Columbus State on Sunday (Nov. 12) at 4:00 p.m. in Dahlonega with an auto-bid to the NCAA Southeast Regional on the…
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