Rondell Honora’s goal with just more than seven minutes left to play gave UNCP its second and final lead of the game and the Braves extended their winning streak out to three games with a 2-1 win at Catawba on Saturday evening.
“We started out very well and got that early opportunity, but we got complacent after that and missed several other chances to push the lead out to 2-0,” said UNCP head coach Mike Schaeffer. “Their goalkeeper made some really good saves in the second half, but we finally pushed one through to get the win. It was great that we were able to pull this one out, but we can’t let teams hang around like Catawba was able to do today. We need to learn to put the games away.”
UNCP got on the scoreboard first just less than 10 minutes into the contest when Miguel Ferrer took control of a loose ball, found a hole through the Indian defense and fired a shot past netminder Tyler Held to give the Braves a 1-0 advantage at the 9:18 mark. The visitors would take the lead into the intermission, despite an even 5-5 count in the shots column.
The Braves logged three shots and a pair of corner kicks in the first 18 minutes of the second period, but it was Catawba that found the back of the net in the 65th minute when Alex Koslick found a wide open Kevin Sorensen on the far side of the field and the Matthews native finished with a shot to the near post that found its way past Braves goalkeeper Horatio Bynes.
Holding Catawba to just one shot over the game’s final 27 minutes, UNCP responded by going on the offensive. The Braves took a trio of close-range shots with just more than 10 minutes left to play, but Held proved to be up to the task, making three saves to keep the game even. Honora, however, made sure the Black and Gold stole a win going away when he nearly mirrored Ferrer’s opening score by taking control of a loose ball, fighting his way through traffic and hitting the back of the net with 7:05 left in regulation.
UNCP will close out a three-game road trip on Wednesday when the Braves head to Laurinburg for a battle with region rival St. Andrews (2-4-0) at Knights Field. Kickoff has been set for 4:30 p.m.