PEMBROKE – Peach Belt Conference rival Flagler broke open a halftime tie by posting goals from Pol Berenguer and Zach Shanahan early in the second period to collect a 2-0 shutout victory over UNCP on Friday evening at Varsity Grounds.

The loss continues Flagler's (5-1-1, 3-0-1) three-game advantage over the Braves (6-2-0, 0-2-0) in the series between the two schools and a four-game winning streak going into the rest of the season. The Saints outshot the Black and Gold in each half and concluded the outing with a 19-10 shot disparity at the final buzzer. Newcomer Sam Miles tallied a team-high five shots for the Braves, while goalkeeper Ryan Hanson grabbed four saves in the 90 minutes between the pipes. 

Shanahan collected the game-winning goal in the 54th minute for his second goal of the season as he scored off a rebounded blocked shot before placing the ball in the back of the net. Less than six minutes later, Berenguer registered his first goal of the season and second of the night for the Saints on a shot to the upper left corner. 

"We had some opportunities but there were some things that just didn't go our way," said UNCP head coach Phil Hindson. "We have played two tough conference opponents and we played well tonight, but we are still growing as a team."

UNCP faced a strong Flagler goalkeeper in Camp Bissell who stopped a penalty kick by Brett Luccia in the 29th minute which held the Braves scoreless throughout the rest of the match. Bissell posted three saves en route to recording his third shutout of the season. Joseph Toby and Berenguer tallied a team-best four shots, while Shanahan, Cameron Will and Eammon Murphy totaled two apiece. 

UNCP will be back in action again on October 1 when the Braves host Georgia Southwestern (2-3-1, 0-1-0) in a 3:30 p.m. conference matchup at Varsity Grounds in Pembroke.