Sergio Guerra, Sports Editor/Photographer 

UNCG Men’s Soccer hosted East Tennessee State University (ETSU) on Nov. 3 in their final game of the regular season. Coming into the match, ETSU was sitting top of the table with 10 points, while UNCG was sitting three points behind them in third place. A win on the night would put UNCG level on points and have them win the regular season for the third time in four years. As for ETSU, a win or a tie would see them clinch the top spot and No. 1 seed. 

It was our UNCG Spartans who found the back of the net first, less than 10 minutes in. It was a strike from Yoshiya Okawa, which brought his season tally to eight goals. Okawa’s goal would be the only difference between the two teams going into half time.   

Arnaud Tattevin would double our Spartans’ lead in the second half to secure his seventh goal of the season. ETSU was able to pull themselves back into the game through Gabriel Ramos, but our Spartans wanted to make sure the result was beyond doubt with a great goal from Enzo Dovlo. The match would end 3-2 in favor of our UNCG Spartans, with ETSU scoring an absolute screamer, but their late rally would not be enough to defeat the Spartans. 

With this result, UNCG was able to secure top spot in the SoCon table and No. 1 seed for the play-offs. Since UNCG secured the first seed, they will be given a bye in the quarter-final round and will face the winner of Furman vs. Mercer in the semi-finals at home! From there, UNCG could host the final of the SoCon Championship, should they win their semi-final clash. 

UNCG isn’t the only one on top of the table as Yoshiya Okawa finishes the season as the top scorer in SoCon, with his eight goals. He is closely followed by Arnaud Tattevin (7) in second place and Enzo Dovlo (5) in fifth. On the other side of the field, goalkeeper Seth Wilson finishes the season as second in number of clean sheets. 

UNCG Men’s Soccer will be back in action on Nov. 10. Up the Spartans!