Box Score Demorest, GA - The Piedmont College men's soccer team had to wait until the final minute of today's USA South opener vs. Ferrum College to know if they would come away with a win, but Vincent Thomas' goal in the closing seconds sealed the deal in a 3-2 win over the visiting Panthers (2-3-1, 0-1 USA South).  In just their second game at Walker Athletic Complex this season, Piedmont (4-2, 1-0 USA South) was able to score first but Ferrum twice equalized until the Lions were able to pull away late on the score from the man known better to his teammates as "Slim."

Piedmont was the first to get on the board when freshman sensation Chase Kane scored yet again tallying his fourth goal in the last three games for PC when he tapped away a Ryan Herbert cross that glanced off the hands of Ferrum keeper Zach Moorman.  Kane's goal came in the 16th minute and was the only score of the first half though the fans paying a visit to the turf field in Demorest would get a treat in the second half as the two teams combined to score four times in the final 30 minutes.

Starting the electric tickdown of the clock was Ferrum who trailed 1-0 at half but equalized in the 61st minute off a goal from Jae White who caused trouble in the Piedmont back four after a clearance could not stop the efforts of the Panther putting pressure on up top.  Nine minutes later, another freshman for the Lions would get the home team back on top when Ryan Herbert scored a goal of his own slotting the ball to the far post for a 2-1 lead in favor of PC sparking a celebration for the ages by Herbert.

In the 78th minute, Ferrum again drew level with Kyle Simpkins breaking free of the Piedmont back four and smashing a hard shot past an oncoming Kenneth Hearn for the 2-2 score.  Hearn finished the day for PC with two goals allowed and seven saves playing all 90 minutes between the pipes for the Lions.

Despite the late score that looked to send the game to OT to decide a winner, Piedmont's Vincent Thomas had other ideas to send his team to the locker room after regulation as he was able to put away a redirected header from teammate Chris Keller after the Lions capitalized on a free kick chance to score and go up 3-2.  Thomas' goal came with 50 seconds left in perhaps one of the most dramatic moments for PC in the past few seasons at Walker Athletic Complex. 

Thomas' goal stood as the gamewinner with Hearn getting the win in goals to move to 4-2 as a starter on the season as the Lions move to 4-2 overall and are off to a 1-0 start in USA South play for the first time since joining the league two seasons ago.  

Piedmont continues its two-game weekend home stand with a 2:00 pm kickoff tomorrow afternoon against the visiting Pacers of William Peace University who fell today 6-0 to conference power Maryville College.  The match will be aired live on the Mane Event Broadcasting Network with coverage beginning at 1:50 pm.