Dahlonega, Ga. – The Lenoir-Rhyne Men's Soccer Team (8-3-2) pulled out a 2-1 overtime victory over North Georgia (6-8) Wednesday evening in a non-conference, regional contest at the Nighthawks Complex.
Lenoir-Rhyne sophomore midfielder Israel Ramirez (Newton, N.C.) scored the winning goal at the 97:39 mark of the first overtime as the Bears remained unbeaten – at 4-0-1 – in their last five matches.
Ramirez scored off a goalkeeper deflection on a shot by sophomore forward Marc Fernandez (Barcelona, SPAIN), who was credited with the assist. The goal was Ramirez's second of the year.
Lenoir-Rhyne opened the scoring in the 32nd minute when freshman forward Devi Ndrita (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) found the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season.
The Nighthawks quickly tied the score at one just under two minutes later when Chris Paul (Stone Mountain, Ga.) finished off a cross from five yards out from Daniel Bennett (Sutton Coldfield, ENGLAND).
Lenoir-Rhyne held a 23-15 advantage in shots taken while junior goalkeeper Zach King (Altamonte Springs, Fla.) earned the win after making five saves on the evening. North Georgia's Conner Domaleski (Conyers, Ga.) suffered the loss in goal despite stopping 10 shots.
Lenoir-Rhyne returns home to face Brevard in a South Atlantic Conference match at the Moretz Sports – Athletic Complex on Saturday night beginning at 7:30 p.m. North Georgia hosts USC Aiken in a Peach Belt Conference contest on Saturday at 7:30 p.m., as well.
