GREENWOOD – The Lander men's soccer team picked up their first win of the 2024 campaign over North Georgia by a 2-0 score on Wednesday night at Van Taylor Stadium. A timely first win, the Bearcats earned three points in the Peach Belt Conference standings to boot.

Lander (1-2-1, 1-0-0 Peach Belt Conference) registered 13 shots on net in a frenetically-paced game – five of which came in a scoreless first half – including a few near-goals from Callum Stokes.

Living by the opponent's net led to some good fortune for the Bearcats in the 61st minute: Michele Zucchi tried unsuccessfully to put home a bicycle kick, but a North Georgia (1-3-1, 0-1-0 Peach Belt Conference) defender subsequently scored an own goal to put Lander on the scoreboard.

Christian Hatley doubled the Bearcat advantage to 2-0 six minutes later on a similarly broken play with a rebound score into the bottom right corner of the net.

Juan Rodriguez had a terrific night in net with seven saves and a proverbial clean sheet.

The testy conference game featured nine yellow cards in all.

Lander returns to Van Taylor Stadium this Saturday (Sept. 21) for a noon contest versus Auburn-Montgomery (Ala.).