GREENSBORO, N.C. – For the second time in less than two weeks, junior forward Jacques Francois (Port Au Prince, Haiti/Louisburg College) scored a golden goal to lead the UNCG men's soccer team to a 2-1 double overtime victory over fifth-seeded and visiting East Tennessee State Saturday night in the Southern Conference Tournament quarterfinals at the UNCG Soccer Stadium.

Francois notched the game-winning goal in the 104^th minute of play this time after scoring the clincher against the Bucs in the 93^rd minute in Johnson City in the second-to-last regular season game, a victory that secured the Spartans tonight's home game. He scored both goals Saturday night against the Bucs and all three of his tallies this year have come at the expense of ETSU.

“A win is a win and we are happy to be moving on,” head coach Justin Maullin said. “Really proud of Jacques as he sunk them at their place and he did it again tonight. Proud of our guys as they stuck to the game plan, stuck together and got the result we needed tonight. There is no tomorrow in tournament time and we played with that intensity all game long. We are excited to be hosting the final two rounds of the tournament here next week and eager to play in front of our fans again.”

The victory assures the Spartans of their 13^th SoCon Tournament semifinal appearance in program history. UNCG is hosting the SoCon Tournament semifinals and finals next week. Semifinal number one will feature second-seeded Wofford against third-seeded Furman at 5 p.m. Thursday night, while the Spartans will face top-seeded Mercer in the second semifinal at 7:30 p.m. The SoCon Tournament finals are slated for next Saturday night at 7 p.m. at the UNCG Soccer Stadium.

The back-and-forth game started from the very beginning as just 1:03 into the game the Spartans had a strong chance. Senior forward Austin Miller (High Point, N.C./High Point Central) made a run down the right-hand side and his first touch gave him space against the ETSU defender. Miller ripped a shot on the run that got past ETSU goalkeeper Daniel Adelman but skidded just over the cross bar.

East Tennessee State had its best chance in the first half come in the 23^rd minute of action. Forward Joao Ramalho found space on the left-hand side and made a run on the top of the 18-yard box. He ripped a shot low on goal but freshman goalkeeper William Pyle (Charlotte, N.C./Ardrey Kell) was there to smother the attempt.

The Spartans had the best attempt of the first half come in the 29^th minute of play off a long throw-in. Redshirt sophomore forward Christopher Reingen (Dusseldorf, Germany/Univ. of Dusseldorf) got his head on the throw and drilled it towards goal, but Adelman was there to make the save.

Ramalho came within inches of giving the Bucs the lead in the 70^th minute of play as the intensity picked up in the second half. He found space inside the 18-yard box and ripped a shot form 10-yards out destined for goal, but Pyle made a fantastic diving save to keep the game scoreless.

The Spartans' pressure was turned up in the second half as they had great chances in the 73^rd minute of play. Reingen had a chance from 15-yards out that Adelman saved and Francois ran onto the rebound attempt and his shot was saved to keep the game scoreless.

UNCG looked like it had scored the game's first goal in the 74^th minute of action off a corner kick. Senior Aaron Reifschneider (Frisco, Texas/Frisco) sent a ball to the top of the 18-yard box where junior Lukas Zarges (Freidrichsdorf, Germany/Phillip Reis Schulle) was all-alone. Zarges teed up a shot from 18-yards out that found its way through traffic and beat Adelman for the apparent goal. During the celebration, the referees convened and eventually waved off the goal due to a UNCG player in an offside position.

East Tennessee State was rejuvenated by the referee's call and took the game's first lead at 1-0 in the 76^th minute of play. Ramalho was the culprit as he got the ball on the left-hand side and made a couple of UNCG defenders miss. He ripped a shot from just inside the 18-yard box toward the bottom far corner past the diving Pyle for his team-leading 11^th goal of the season. The goal was the first of the year for ETSU against the Spartans and Pyle, snapped a shutout streak in the series of 258:28.

The Spartans showed their mettle though coming down the field and immediately tying the game just 24 seconds later. After the restart following the goal, Reifschneider sent a long ball to the top of the 18-yard box. An ETSU defender got his head on the ball but it sprung Francois into space. He calmly brought the ball down and stuck a shot through a defender's legs past Adelman for his second goal of the season, tying the game at 1-1.

The teams headed into the first overtime without much drama and the Spartans had the game's lone chance in the first extra session. In the 97^th minute, freshman Moises Gonzalez (Bailey, N.C./Southern Nash) got in along behind the ETSU defense but his shot sailed just wide of the goal.

The Spartans took home the victory in the 104^th minute of action, taking advantage of a long throw-in. Senior Justin Jones (Jamestown, N.C./Lees-McRae) sent the ball into the box where it was initially cleared. Reingen chipped it back into the 18-yard box where freshman defender Eric Gunnarsson (Falkenberg, Sweden) brought the pass down and fired a shot on goal. Adelman made the initial save but the rebound popped out in front of the goal where Francois beat three ETSU defenders to the ball and buried it into the open net, sending the Spartans onto the field with the golden goal victory.

The Spartans finished the night with a 19-14 edge in shots and came back to hold a 10-9 advantage in corner kicks in the hotly contested affair. Pyle picked up his third victory of the season against ETSU as he made five saves on the night while Adelman was saddled with the loss despite making seven saves.

The Spartans will return to action in the SoCon Tournament semifinals Thursday night as they take on the top-seeded Mercer Bears. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. at the UNCG Soccer Stadium and will be streamed online in full HD on the SoCon Digital Network.

-UNCG-