DAHLONEGA – The University of North Georgia men's soccer team battled to a 3-3 draw with historic rival Young Harris Wednesday evening. Despite holding a 3-2 second-half lead at home, with the events that transpired in the game, a draw feels like somewhat of a victory for UNG.

The Nighthawks move to 1-1-1 on the season with the finish and get ready for a Saturday home matchup against No. 20 Lincoln Memorial.

Wednesday's rivalry matchup started as poorly as it possibly could have for head coach Anel Lilic's team. 

Just two minutes into the game, freshman defender Owen Wallace retreated after a ball went bouncing over his head. As Wallace leaped to head the ball back to his starting goalkeeper, sophomore Aleksa Lukic, he failed to realize that Lukic was off his line and charging the ball himself. Wallace beat Lukic to it, headed up and over his keeper and the ball woefully crossed the line untouched. 1-0 Young Harris. 

After a disappointing 4-1 loss just four days earlier at the hands of Converse, the Nighthawks entered Wednesday's showdown with the hopes of putting perhaps a fluke performance behind them. Instead, they were down a goal by their own accord and searching for answers. 

Answers were found in freshman forward Jorge Sandoval in the 13th minute. The former Atlanta United product found himself with the ball in a prime position to score. After swerving around a defender to retrieve a deflected pass, Sandoval was just outside the 18-yard box with the ball a few feet in front of his deadly left foot. He stepped into a perfect kick and curled the ball around Mount Lion keeper Ian Aycock, tying the game at 1-1. 

This was the response UNG needed. It injected life not only into the crowd but the lineup as well. However, YH had answers of its own. Phillip Abda placed himself at the edge of the six-yard box and waited for a cross from teammate Sergio Llopart. The pass came directly through the box before being redirected into the back of the net by Abda's head. 

With the momentum again zapped, the Nighthawks hoped to equalize before the halftime break. They were down a goal because of an unforced error. Wallace's own goal after his shared miscommunication with Lukic put the Nighthawks in a hole. 

Wallace, a freshman from Habersham Central High School, made just his second collegiate start Wednesday night. As a newcomer still looking for his footing on a talented team, no one would've been surprised had Wallace faded into the shadows against the Mountain Lions. Getting over the embarrassment and sorrow of conceding an own goal had to have been challenging enough for a freshman just one month into his college life. Turning the night into a positive performance? Near impossible. 

Yet, right there in front of his very eyes, in the 29th minute, Wallace saw a chance at redemption. After two beautiful touches from junior midfielder Vukašin Lukovic and sophomore defender Angel Sagrero, the only thing that stood between Wallace and the back of the net was Aycock. From the left wing of the box, Wallace released a screamer that zipped past the keeper and into the back of the net. He tied the game and unleashed a flurry of yells and fist pumps in celebration. That one felt good. 

The Nighthawks would get one more goal before halftime, entering the break with a 3-2 lead. In the 39th minute, Lilic substituted sophomore forward Stephane Shongo into the contest. Halfway into the 40th minute, he had his second goal of the season. Shongo has already shown an ability to make Lilic look good by producing from off the bench. In UNG's season opener against FMU, he scored the game winner with less than two minutes to go after Lilic had subbed him on in the second half. 

On Wednesday, he ignited the UNG crowd after a pristine goal from just inside the box. After a Mountain Lion goal kick was volleyed back and forth a few times, the ball headed toward Sandoval. Fittingly enough, just to Sandoval's left stood Shongo with nothing but green grass in front of him. Noticing this, Sandoval – with an early candidate for best touch of the season – one tapped a ball to the streaking Shongo who set his sights on the net. Shongo slid the ball past Aycock on the right and celebrated in front of the UNG crowd after giving his team the lead. 

The Nighthawks would take the 3-2 lead into the halftime break, but it wouldn't take long before they would relinquish it. 

Three minutes into the second half, YH leveled the scoreboard with a goal from Bjorn Jonasson. It felt like the first of what was surely going to be a goal-scoring clinic in the second half. After all, six goals had been scored between the two squads just 48 minutes into the game. A goal was scored every eight minutes. Yet no more shots would cross the goal line for the remainder of the night. 

The reason a draw is somewhat of a win for UNG is because of what happened in the 66th minute. Located on the near sideline, Lukovic challenged YH's Abda for possession. Abda placed the defender on his back and attempted to spin off him to his left. As he did, Lukovic got a handful of Abda's jersey on the back squarely between the "2-4". He was given a red card and sent off. 

With 24:17 on the clock, Lilic's team would have to play the rest of the way a man down without their starting center back. 

Having to focus the bulk of their efforts on defense, winning the contest no longer seemed like a viable option for the Nighthawks. They would not take another shot after Lukovic's ejection and consistently scrambled to defend a hungry Mountain Lions team that threw punch after punch. Even still, UNG held strong, only allowing two more shots the rest of the game, resulting in the tie.

Wednesday night was ugly. It was a chippy rivalry contest that was more about mistakes for both teams than it was consistent and quality play. It's a game you absolutely hate to lose and feel simply lucky to win. Both teams felt somewhere in the middle when all was said and done. 

The Nighthawks will now prepare for a Saturday showdown with No. 20 LMU. Kick off takes place at the UNG Soccer Field at Lynn Cottrell Park at 5 p.m.