PEMBROKE – The UNCP men's soccer team seized its third-straight victory this season in a shutout of Mount Olive on Wednesday evening at Varsity Grounds. Newcomer Adam Smith amassed a team-best two goals to lead the Braves to a 4-0 victory.

The result marked the first time in seven years that UNCP (3-0-0) has started its season with three wins. The Braves, amid their march to the NCAA Final Four, began the 2004 campaign with five-straight victories. The 4-0 win over Mount Olive (0-3-0) also marked the most lopsided victory for either team in the series since a 6-0 UNCP home win over the Trojans on Sept. 22, 1998.

Smith connected on the first goal off a fumbled save by the goalkeeper less than five minutes into the game to earn the game-winning goal honor. Martin Tomter registered the second goal off of a rebounded save by the defender initially passed by Paul Freeman. The Braves outshot Mount Olive 15-3 as the teams entered halftime with a 2-0 score.

The final two goals were collected less than two minutes apart as Payne Clark passed the ball from the penalty zone to Sam Miles at the 53:22 mark before Smith shot from inside the 18-yard box with assists by Matt MacDougall and Shaun Herselman. The Black and Gold outshot the Trojans 31-5 while tallying seven corner kicks compared to Mount Olive's two.

Time was split in goal by freshman Joe Cullip and sophomore Ryan Hanson. Cullip spent nearly 57 minutes in goal and grabbed one save while Hanson tallied just more than 33 minutes and two saves between the bars. Miles led the team with eight shots while MacDonald, Smith and Braxton Perkins each posted three. The Black and Gold suffered 12 offsides violations, but collected only 10 fouls compared to 13 for the Trojans.

Mount Olive saw five different players charge the goal, each with one shot, while Tyler Vandevender, Stan Smith and Aaron Norris held one shot on goal apiece. Goalkeeper Roy Gray started the game and tallied just less than 21 minutes while allowing one goal and grabbing one save until Kyle Lavender finished off the remaining 69 minutes between the bars, totaling three saves and allowing three goals.

The Black and Gold hit the road in the first away game of the season on Saturday as the squad takes on Chowan (0-2-0) in a 4 p.m. nonconference matchup at the Soccer Complex in Murfreesboro.




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