VIDEO: Richard Moodie Interview
DAHLONEGA, Ga. – Three goals in the last 15:03 spurred a stunning comeback for the North Georgia Nighthawks, who shocked the Carson-Newman women's soccer team, 4-3 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday at North Georgia Soccer Complex in Dahlonega, Ga.
"Football is a cruel sport," coach Richard Moodie said. "Fair play to them. They worked hard. We were pushing and couldn't get out lines cleared. We were really deep, but we were deep in allowing them. We were inviting pressure and we couldn't get out. At the end of the day, they wanted it a little bit more than us."
The score that began UNG's rebound from a two goal deficit came off a corner kick from Taylor Wagnon. The senior's cross came to the head of Jessica Allen and Allen's header crossed the goal line to slice the Nighthawks' deficit in half in the 75th minute. North Georgia used another set piece to pull even in the 82nd minute. Wagnon again connected with Allen, who was waiting at the far post, and another header resulted in another goal and a tie game.
The Nighthawks completed the comeback in the 89th minute. Renee Van Horn sent a through ball towards the top of the C-N box. Goalie Jacqueline Burns (Cooktstown, Northern Ireland) came out to try and claim it, but Rachel Van Horn beat her to the ball and chipped it over the Eagle keeper for the game-winner.
North Georgia's late rally negated a great start by Carson-Newman. They threatened early and the Eagles broke through in the 16th minute. After North Georgia was forced to concede a corner, a perfect cross by Lauren Wade (Coleraine, Northern Ireland) found the head of Heida Ragney (Akureyri, Iceland) at the front post and the sophomore's header was on target for her third goal of the season.
North Georgia quickly battled back, however. Rachel Van Horn stole the ball from the C-N back line and grounded a shot past Burns to tie the game at one. For Van Horn, the goal was her 20th of 2016. This marked the first time all season Carson-Newman had lost a lead.
With time winding down in the half, C-N found a way to jump back in front. Wade stole the ball from the Nighthawks inside their 18-yard box and delivered a pass to Alex Brandan (Knoxville, Tenn.). Brandan's shot was blocked, but the deflection rolled right to Magda Mosengo (London, England), and she put away the chance to put her squad ahead 2-1. That score held into the half.
C-N increased their edge to 3-1 in the 54th minute when an indirect free kick from inside the box was deflected to Brandan at the top of the box and she rifled one past keeper Hannah Goudy for a score. The Eagles lead seemed safe until the last 15 minutes.
To stay up to date with the Carson-Newman women's soccer program, follow @CNathletics and @CNWSoccer and visit cneagles.com.
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