DAHLONEGA – The University of North Georgia (UNG) women's soccer team took down No. 9 Lenoir-Rhyne in a 1-0 victory at the UNG Soccer Field at Lynn Cottrell Park Wednesday night. The Nighthawks handed L-R its first regular season loss since Sep. 14, 2022. The victory also goes down as the third highest win over a ranked opponent in program history and UNG's first win against a top-10 team since Mar. 18, 2020.

The game started at an intense level from the jump. Both teams traded opportunities back and forth in the early goings. 

After a number of early chances, UNG finally broke through in the 26th minute. 

Freshman forward Blanca Cruz drove the ball to the far side of the 18-yard box and fired a beautiful, curving shot that drilled the crossbar. The shot looked like it was going to be another missed opportunity in the early stages. Instead, the redirect off the woodwork landed at the foot of sophomore midfielder Angie Garcia. 

Garcia, on the near side of the box, turned and directed a pass to senior midfielder Darby Olive. Squarely in the center of the box, she fired a shot to the right side of the net. In a picture perfect strike, the ball curved directly into the upper right corner of the net, sending Nighthawk fans into a frenzy. UNG would take its 1-0 lead into the halftime break. 

UNG snuffed the only two shots the Bears would attempt in the final 45 minutes. 

The win pushes the Nighthawks to 10-3-1 on the season while maintaining a 4-2-1 mark in conference play. 

The regular season will conclude for UNG on Monday, Nov. 4 at 6 p.m. as the Nighthawks host Lander for the regular season finale in a makeup game from earlier this year. With Lander's draw against Georgia Southwestern earlier this week, UNG has secured a second place finish in the PBC, marking its 11th straight top four finish in the league and its sixth time in the last 11 years finishing second or better.