THOMASVILLE — Dalton State (Ga.) upset No. 12 Thomas University men’s soccer 3-2 on Sunday afternoon in the final contest of the TU Invitational at TU Soccer Complex.

“Hats off to Dalton State. They did what they needed to do to win,” Night Hawk coach Ricky Zambrano said. “We didn’t match their desire to win the game, and that simply was the difference.”

Santiago Moore scored the first two goals of the match for Dalton State (2-1) on free kicks. He went top shelf from 25 yards out in the 19th minute before doing the same from 20 yards away in the 21st minute.

Leo Thompson cut TU’s (1-2) deficit in half in the 22nd minute when his header found the back of the net following a cross from Nicola Monelli.

The Night Hawks played with a man advantage for nearly 41 minutes of the match following a red card to the Roadrunners’ Sebastian Guzman in the 22nd minute for fighting.

“We got into a good rhythm at that point,” Zambrano commented. “We tried to raise the intensity from there.”

The match was reduced to 10 players per side when a TU player picked up his second yellow card in the 63rd minute. Andile Sithole tied the affair 28 seconds later when he beat Dalton State netminder Samuel Fraire from six yards out.

However, the Roadrunners took the lead for good in the 68th minute when Kevin Villatoro scored in the box on a ball that deflected off two Night Hawk defenders.

Moore and Villatoro each had two shots on goal. Thompson totaled two shots on goal.

Fraire tallied three saves in 90 minutes for the win.

Goalkeeper Ben Barnes made his first start this season for TU, recording three saves in 90 minutes.

Thomas outshot Dalton State 16-14 and held an edge in corner kicks, 5-3.

“We’ve got to respond to today’s match,” Zambrano said. “We’ve got to respond in a big way, come out ready to train Tuesday, put in the work in the weight room and on the field.”

The Night Hawks travel to Truett-McConnell on Friday. Kickoff is set for 3:00 p.m.