THOMASVILLE, Ga. – The Thomas University men's soccer team received goals from Eric Persson, Patrick Ramdial, and Severin Abt to defeat Ave Maria 3-1 Thursday afternoon at TU Soccer Complex.  With the win, the Night Hawks improved to 12-2 (6-1 Sun Conference).
 
Thomas wasted no time going in front, as an early chance resulted in a penalty kick.  Persson easily converted, putting the Night Hawks up 1-0 in the team's quest for a fifth consecutive victory. 
The lead stood until the 54th minute, when Ave Maria freshman Fabrizio Bucco equalized from outside the box.
 
"An early goal should give you an advantage psychologically, but today it didn't and that caused us problems later in the first half because we let off the emotional edge a little bit," said TU head coach Ricky Zambrano, whose team won for the twelfth time in 14 matches.
 
The Night Hawks' response to the equalizer could not have been better, however, as Ramdial turned in a great piece of individual play just one minute later and smashed the go-ahead goal past the Gyrenes' keeper.
 
"We gave them too much time on their goal, but it was a great attitude to respond and wake up and turn around and make up for it," Zambrano continued.
 
Thomas scored again just over 20 minutes later as Abt provided the Night Hawks with a much-needed insurance goal to help seal the win.
 
"First off, hats off to Ave Maria.  They've been in every game they've played, and they've done a great job staying in games," said the Night Hawks' eleventh year head man. "The truth of the matter is that, statistically, we're in first place but today was a must-win game that we had to take care of."
 
Thursday afternoon's match was yet another closely-contested conference match for the Night Hawks.  Zambrano's team has been incredibly successful in those contests, posting an 8-2 record in one-goal games and a 2-0 mark in matches decided by two goals.
 
Regardless of condition, opponent or circumstance, Thomas feels that it's going to be successful.
 
 "We feel that we're going to win every game," Zambrano concluded. "Whether we're down by three or up by three, we have to put it away. It's a mindset to go out and get the job done regardless of the circumstances, but our guys are very comfortable in any circumstance."
 
The victory keeps the Night Hawks atop the TSC table with just two conference matches to play.  Both of Thomas' final two conference matches will be at home, but the team will step out of conference to play Georgia Gwinnett in Columbus, Ga., on Oct. 23.
 
The Night Hawks will look to maintain solid form on Saturday in the team's next match against Southeastern.  Thomas will be honoring all 11 of their seniors in their annual Senior Day festivities.  First touch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
 
Scoring Summary
01:32 – (Thomas) Eric Persson (unassisted)
55:03 – (Ave Maria) Fabrizio Bucco, assisted by Adam Roberge
56:24 – (Thomas) Patrick Ramdial, assisted by Guilherme Henrique
80:40 – (Thomas) Severin Abt (unassisted)

By the Numbers
0 – Corner kicks taken by Ave Maria
2 – Days until Thomas faces Southeastern
3 – Saves made by Thomas keeper Ben McFarlane-Barnes
7 – Corner kicks taken by Thomas
11 – Number of Seniors Thomas will recognize during Saturday's game
11 – Shots on goal by Thomas
18 – Shots taken by Thomas
24 – Number of combined shots by Ave Maria and Thomas
 
For up-to-date information on this game and other TU Athletics, visit http://www.TUNightHawks.com. Stay up-to-date with news, scores, photos, game summaries, play-by-play, and feature stories of your TU men's soccer team by following them via Twitter at @NightHawksMSocc.