DAHLONEGA, GA. – The Anderson University men's soccer team picked up their seventh consecutive win on Wednesday (Oct. 20) in thrilling fashion, coming from behind late in the second half to defeat the North Georgia Nighthawks by a score of 3-2.
Anderson came into the match riding a six-game win streak, which ranked them 20th in the latest United Soccer Coaches National Poll. South Atlantic Conference opponent Limestone was ranked 11th in the poll.
"It is fantastic to be considered amongst the top programs in the country," said coach Michael Zion. "At this point of the season, this is exactly where we want to be. We still have a long way to go in order to achieve our end goals, but we will use this recognition as fuel to keep pushing ourselves each day!"
The Trojans used that fuel early in the match as Alexandre Cox-Ashwood scored his 11th goal of the season to give Anderson an early 1-0 lead, courtesy of an assist from Agustin Ortiz and Eloy Allimadi. However, North Georgia answered with two goals of their own to go into halftime with a 2-1 advantage.
As the second half began, both teams were holding strong defensively. Goalkeeper Gal Elyashiv finished the night with three saves for Anderson, while Garrett Liles had six for North Georgia. In the 84th minute, Eloy Allimadi escaped the Nighthawk defense and found the back of the net to even the score at 2-2. Less than two minutes later, Cox-Ashwood found some space outside the box, and beautifully placed a ball in the right side of the net to complete the comeback win for the Trojans 3-2.
"What a great comeback victory for this team," said Zion. "The guys went down a goal in the first half and battled for 60+ minutes to bring the game back even. To go on and take the lead in the remaining minutes was special. Our team was relentless tonight and we showed what we are about!"
The Trojans will be back in action on Saturday (Oct. 23) as they play host to Mars Hill for homecoming. Game time is set for 4:30 PM, with video and live stats available at www.autrojans.com.
