Staff photo / Brad Emerine South Range’s Luke McConnell (12) dribbles between Hubbard’s Jacob Gulu (22) and Brayden Murray (14) during the first half Thursday at Alumni Field in Hubbard.

HUBBARD — If at first you don’t succeed, try again.

Hubbard’s Jacob Gulu was awarded that situation Thursday night when the Eagles played host to South Range in their Northeast-8 Conference opener.

WIth the score tied 1-all and 93 seconds remaining, Gulu lined up for a free kick following an infraction by the Raiders.

His shot up from 25 yards away sailed over the crossbar by approximately two feet.

When South Range was whistled for a handball with 44 seconds remaining, Gulu got his second chance, this time from 32 yards away.

The junior striker, who scored 17 goals last season, converted the second chance, sending the ball tailing into the upper-right side of the nets past Raiders’ goalkeeper Bradon Johnson.

“I know we needed a goal, and I had to put it in right there because we were running out of time,” said Gulu, who also scored near the midway point of the first half to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead. “I was aiming top right. It started out toward the center and tailed out and I was just happy it got in there. It was our first win of the season and our first conference game, so this means a lot and should help pick us up and get us going.”

Still, Hubbard (1-2, 1-0) had to survive a free kick by South Range with 19 seconds remaining. But Raiders’ senior Logan Weaver had little room to send anything on net directly, as he was vertical with the end line and about half the distance in from the corner. The angle made it less dangerous than a corner kick.

The Eagles knocked it down and then away as the ball trickled on South Range’s side of midfield field when time ran out.

“I turned away and envisioned what Jacob was going to do on that second (free kick),” Hubbard coach Cory Reinard said. “I was on the opposite side and all I could tell is that it went in and that’s all that matters. That’s all we cared about. It was a tremendous moment for him, and this was a big-time win for us.

“The boys knew we needed this one bad because we lost the first two games and it hit us a little hard. We lost our first game to West Branch 1-0 when we got caught on a counter and then we played a phenomenal Howland team in our second game. They took it to us 7-0 and our heads dropped a little. So to get the first win and do it in our conference opener was just what we needed.”

South Range, which fell to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the conference, had the better of play for much of the game.

The Raiders had a 7-0 advantage in corner kicks in the first half and trailed 1-0, as Gulu scored his team’s first goal of the season with 23:34 left before intermission.

“We controlled the game,” South Range coach Zach Stamp said. “I think we had as many corner kicks as they had shots (9 to 9), but when you put two in on nine shots, it’s tough to contest that. Jacob Gulu is a great player, one of the best in the area, so credit goes to him. But we let them have too much space at times, and we gave up two (free kicks) in the final (90 seconds), and you just can’t get away with that.”

The teams endured a 20-minute break with 22:03 remaining in the contest, as the lights on the home side of the field went black.

“I told our guys that we had to stay loose and stay focused,” Reinard said. “We also had made a tactical change in the second half. We had trouble with outlets, so we were sitting back allowing them to play and taking very few counters. But we made an adjustment, and the change allowed us to get down the field more later in the second half, and we used that to our advantage after (South Range) tied it up.”

South Range knotted the score 1-all with 13:22 left, as senior Luke McConnell made a nice play, sending a low screamer past Hubbard keeper John Reinard.

The Raiders had 21 shots, but only nine were on frame.

“I’m hoping we were just a little amped and that’s why we weren’t putting shots on goal as much as we would’ve liked,” Stamp said. “I don’t think it was anything soccer-wise, but more of a mental thing. But we’ll take a look at it, work on it and straighten things out so that maybe by the next time we play next Tuesday, we’ll put a few more in the net.”