Shorter College senior midfielder Kyle Timberlake scored two goals and assisted on another as the Hawks improved to 5-4 overall and 2-1 in the Southern States Athletic Conference with a 3-1 victory over Emmanuel College on Monday afternoon at Darlington School.
Timberlake struck twice in the first half to help Shorter climb out of an early 1-0 deficit, connecting on a blast from 12 yards out in the 24th-minute after Mark Beattie's cross was deflected by a defender right to his feet, and again in the 37th-minute after slicing through the Emmanuel defense and beating keeper Anel Lilic low to the far post for a 2-1 lead.
He was the middle man in Jerome Toby's game-clinching goal in the 67th-minute, taking a throw in from Dallas Dickerson and dropping off a feed to Toby for the score, handing the Hawks a 3-1 lead that they would not relinquish.
Shorter out shot the Lions 19-8 and needed several big stops from goalkeeper Johnny Paletar to stay afloat in the first half.
After Emmanuel (1-3-2, 0-3-1 SSAC) stunned the Hawks with a Reegan Emlsie goal just two minutes into the match off a free kick and flick on from Jacob Primm and Ivan Garcia, respectively, Paletar settled down and delivered a pair of clutch saves late in the first stanza.
Shining brightest was his one-on-one denial of Lions' forward Sebastian Paz in the 31st-minute, who let loose a blast from just inside the 18-yard box that Paletar dove to corral just before the goal line.
Shorter returns to the pitch on Wednesday, Sept. 30 when it heads to Reinhardt College for a 4 p.m. match.