COLUMBUS, Miss. -  Mississippi University for Women's Pedro Santana and Tres Ray had a hand – more accurately a foot – in each goal scored by the MUW in its 4-3 come-from-behind home win over Huntingdon College at the Lowndes County Soccer Complex. The Owls improved to 2-6-2 on the season, while the Hawks fell to 1-7-1.
 
The Santana-Ray tandem keyed MUW's resurgence in the contest, after falling behind, 2-0, following Hawks' tallies in the 3rd and 9th minutes. Rather than fold, the deficit seemed to spur the Owls', that reeled off three unanswered goals.
 
The first two came via Santana a little over two minutes apart. In the 11th minute, Graham Rodney delivered a ball to James Cumberland, who in turn slid a pass through to Santana for the goal. In the 13th minute, Terrell Johnson hit Ray with a perfect ball. Ray then touch passed it to Santana to knot the contest at 2-2.
 
The W's third-consecutive goal came in the 28th minute, courtesy of Kai VanCourt. VanCourt took a pass from Santana to the left of the Hawks' net and went to the lower right-hand third. VanCourt's goal gave the hosts a 3-2 lead, which it took to the halftime locker room.
 
Coming out for the second half, Huntingdon leveled the match at 3-3 with a goal in the 66th minute and started anew the scramble for the deciding score. And that shot came from the Owls inside the 10-minutes remaining mark.
 
In the 81st minute, Miguel Hernandez took a pass on the near sideline and dribbled to goal. Hernandez pulled up from left of frame and delivered the ball toward the far post, where Ray made a sliding redirect into the net – even crashing into the post afterwards - for what would prove to be the match-winner.
 
After a couple of tense moments, Ray got up unscathed and MUW went on to notch its second win on its home pitch of 2022.
 
"The game tonight was a testament to what happens when a team pulls together and plays for each other," MUW Head Coach BJ Pheasant said. "Our first goal was an example of the 'beautiful game.' We had some good stretches of soccer. I'm proud of the guys for their resilience and hard work.
 
"I would be remiss if I didn't give plaudits to Victor Gomez for stepping off the field and into the goal. Big kudos for his willingness to help the team."
 
Gomez replaced regular net-minder David McCutchen, who was injured two matches ago.
 
Each team had 16 shot attempts in the match. Gomez made seven saves in his first start in the nets for MUW.
 
The Owls will next be in action on October 10 at home versus Talladega College at the Lowndes County Soccer Complex. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m.