ST. AUGUSTINE –
Rodrigo Portillo scored the golden goal to lead Flagler College to a 4-3 win in overtime against the University of North Georgia in a Peach Belt Conference men's soccer match Saturday afternoon at Saints Field.
Flagler snapped a three-match losing streak and improved to 2-4-0 overall and 1-0-0 in the Peach Belt. North Georgia suffered its second consecutive loss and fell to 3-3-1 overall and 0-0-1 in conference play.
"I am really pleased and proud of our team earning three points today against a quality North Georgia team," said head coach
Chris Kranjc. "It was a battle you would expect in the first game of conference play. We fought from a goal down and then found a winner in overtime in tough conditions."
Samba Diop was on a run down the right sideline and made a pass to his left, into the middle of the box, that found Portillo who booted it into the back of the net in the 98
th minute.
The Saints held a 3-1 lead at the half thanks to goals by
Henrique Salomao (20'),
Dan McGuire (22') and
Tryggvi Magnusson (32'). Magnusson finished with a goal and an assist.
Flagler played the final 16:41 a man down due to a red card issued in the 82
nd minute.
The Nighthawks were able to close the gap to one after an Adam Ferrell goal. Almost five minutes later, he assisted on Evan Davis' (68') equalizer.
Iwan Roberts recorded six saves for Flagler while Matt Sharman started for North Georgia and recorded one save, but he was replaced by Cade Minton in the fifth minute. Minton saves six shots.
Flagler out shot North Georgia 20-16 and held a slight 11-9 edge in shots on goal. The Nighthawks took 11 corner kicks while the Saints took seven. Flagler was booked for 18 fouls and North Georgia had 10 fouls.
Flagler returns to action on Tuesday (Sept. 25) against Florida Southern College. The game will kick-off at 7 p.m. at Saints Field.
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