PEMBROKE – Despite giving up the first goal of the game, the UNCP men's soccer team surged the goal in the second half as senior Sean Hoek put away the two goals for the Braves in the 2-1 Peach Belt Conference victory over North Georgia on Saturday at Varsity Grounds.

After being down by one goal for less than four minutes, junior Jeff MacDonald set up the scoring play for the Braves (9-3-0, 4-3-0 PBC) on the corner kick. Hoek found the ball on the pass from MacDonald and senior Todd May and headed the spinning shot above the goalkeeper's head and into the back of the net in the 52nd minute to tie the game at 1-1.

At the 75:36 mark, junior Brett Luccia suffered a substantial foul inside the box which gave the Black and Gold a penalty kick. Hoek against stepped up to take the kick for UNCP and achieved the game-winning goal and his ninth goal of the season.

With the win, the Braves tied the all-time series with North Georgia (6-4-2, 2-2-2 PBC), 3-3-3, and snapped a six-game unbeaten streak by the Saints with the last loss against Young Harris on September 15.

Senior Ryan Hanson collected four saves between the wood and increased his record in goal to 9-3-0, while North Georgia's netminder Kristopher Alonzo notched two saves in his 90 minutes on the field.

The Saints exited halftime with a quick goal at the 47:23 mark by Amin El-Shami for his second goal of the season. El-Shami dribbled past the UNCP defense into the middle of the box and sent the shot past Hanson into the lower left corner of the goal.

Four yellow cards were awarded during the 90 minutes of action with UNCP and North Georgia each collecting two. The physical matched left the teams with a combined 28 fouls as UNCP led the way with 16.

The Braves tallied five shots in the first half, while the Saints totaled a mere two, but the tied turned in the second half as North Georgia posted 10 shots compared the UNCP's seven.

The Braves will play a midweek game on Tuesday when they suit up to battle regionally-ranked Mars Hill (11-6-0) on the road in Mars Hill.