Tigerville, SC - The North Greenville Trailblazers carried a two-goal advantage into halftime Saturday night at Pepsi Stadium, but four unanswered goals by the Lions of Emmanuel University in the second half led to a 4-2 defeat this evening at Pepsi Stadium. The loss moved North Greenville to 1-4 overall and 1-1 in conference play, while Emmanuel improved to 2-2-1 overall and 2-0 in the conference.
North Greenville struck first in the 10th minute when Emilio Galeas scored with an assist from Warren Traina at the 9:57 mark.. The goal was Galeas' first of the season.
The Trailblazers doubled the advantage late in the opening half. Jesse Zborovsky found the back of the net on a penalty kick at 42:11 for his first goal of the year, sending NGU into halftime with a 2-0 lead. North Greenville and Emmanuel each recorded four shots in the first 45 minutes, while Cohen Brinkley made three saves to keep the Lions off the board.
Emmanuel began its comeback in the 59th minute when Enzo Joly scored off an assist from Alexander Cook to cut the deficit to 2-1. John Ruetschle then pulled the Lions even at 65:28 with Dylan Persinger providing the assist.
Ruetschle struck again in the 74th minute, this time off an assist from Joly, to give Emmanuel its first lead of the night at 3-2. Joly later added his second goal at 81:34, with Maddox Driver collecting the assist, to complete the four-goal second-half surge.
Galeas finished with one goal on his only shot, while Zborovsky scored once and put both of his attempts on goal. Brennen Lamont led North Greenville with three shots, including one on target. Traina recorded an assist and put his lone attempt on goal, while Ezra Hoffman and Tomas Cabrera also placed shots on frame.
The Trailblazers will return to action on Wednesday, September 16th against the Bobcats of Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, North Carolina.
