Box Score In a key battle for first place within the USA South standings, Greensboro College rallied for a trio of second half goals to defeat Maryville College 4-3 in Greensboro, North Carolina on Friday evening.
The Scots took an early lead on the road.
Maryville's Tim Baker directed a long pass from midfield to Caleb Lucas just before the 12th minute. Lucas trapped the ball, darted right-to-left and hit the lower left corner of the net for his 13th goal of the season. Baker's 5th assist gave the Scots an early 1-0 lead.
Ten minutes later, Thomas Palmer cleared a Pride attack deep towards the Greensboro keeper. The hosts missed a header and Caleb Lucas collected the rebound to beat Pride keeper Jaime Payamps for his 14th goal of the season.
Greensboro's Ryan Mule cut the Scots' lead in half at the 30th minute. Following a free-kick, Mule collected the pass on the left corner of the box and snuck his 1st goal of the season past MC keeper Jon Taylor in the lower corner of the goal.
Maryville quickly expanded their lead just three minutes later. George Davies lifted a corner kick to the post. The ball found its way to Paul Hopson and the freshman from Knoxville deposited his 2nd goal of the season to give MC a 3-1 advantage.
The Scots took a two-goal lead into the intermission, out pacing the Pride 6-4 in shots on goal. MC keeper Jon Taylor recorded a trio of stellar saves to preserve the MC lead.
Greensboro went on the attack in the second half with several shots turned away by Taylor. MC was called for a foul in the 53rd minute and Carlos Barragan took the free kick from 35-yards away. He hit the back of the net in the upper right corner for his 9th goal of the season making the score 3-2.
The Pride deposited the equalizer in the 57th minute when Scott Fatyol shot on Taylor. Taylor dove left, deflecting the shot but Craig Gage collected the rebound shooting left to right for his 5th goal of the season.
Greensboro tallied the game-winner in the 80th minute when Barraga broke away from the right corner and found Shaun Watt. Watt deposited a back-heal flick past Taylor to give the Pride a 4-3 lead. The goal was Watt's 13th goal of the season.
Lucas' pair of goal gives him 14 on the season, placing the junior from Maryville 11th on MC's single season goal list tied with Paul Wieck (2000) and Chris Reid (1996).
The victory maintains Greensboro's hold on first place with an overall record of 10-4-1 and a 7-0-1 mark in league play. Maryville's loss snaps an 11-match unbeaten streak sending the Scots to an overall record of 11-2-2 and 5-1-2 in USA South action.
Maryville looks to rebound on Saturday when they travel to USA South foe Averett University for a 7:00 p.m. start.
