MONTGOMERY,
Ala. – Junior Chris Blight scored on a penalty kick in overtime to give the
Huntingdon men’s soccer team a 2-1 win over Talladega College on Friday.
The win
is the first of the season for the Hawks (1-8-2).
“This is definitely what we needed,” Blight said.
“This wasn’t our best performance, but we took a step forward tonight. This is
the right time of the season to start stepping up.”
Despite the record, Huntingdon has been on the
verge of success several times this season. Two ties, three losses by a goal
and two losses by two goals have been frustrating for the Hawks. With six
regular-season games remaining, including all four Great South Athletic
Conference games, head coach Kevin Ray hopes his team can build off of the
victory.
“It’s good to get this win and we want it to set
the tone as we push on from here,” Ray said. “Coming in, we had seven games
left and our goal was to win as many as we can. We got the first one today and
we want it to be a good momentum builder.”
The Hawks played good defense, limiting Talladega
to three shots in the game. But the Tornadoes took a 1-0 lead early in the
second half on a Luciano Cepeda goal. Daniel Garzon had the assist.
Huntingdon’s Dallas Thomas tied the game in the
69th minute. But Huntingdon, which took 26 shots in regulation,
couldn’t take the lead until overtime.
With 6:42 left in overtime, Blight ended the
game.
With a road trip to Oakwood University coming up
on Tuesday and GSAC battles with Maryville, LaGrange and Piedmont the following
three games, Blight said the Hawks need to be focused on their goals moving
forward.
“We’ve got to stay on task,” Blight said. “We
need 100-percent effort in every practice and every game to be able to step up
to the next level. I believe we can do that. This is going to be a starting
point for us.”
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