PEMBROKE – Senior captain Sean Hoek posted his sixth and seventh goal of the season to deliver the UNCP men's soccer team a 6-0 shutout victory over region rival Barton on Wednesday evening at Varsity Grounds.

Hoek put the Braves (7-1-0) on the board early with the game-winning goal at the 7:15 mark on a penalty kick after Brett Luccia was fouled inside the box. Exactly five minutes later, newcomer Rico Laitinen chipped in the insurance goal for UNCP as he drilled a bender shot from 25 yards out to register his second goal of the season.

Hoek took the Braves ahead by three goals with his second goal of the game in the 32nd minute as Laitinen headed the ball to Hoek who shot the ball from the top of the box past a diving goalkeeper.

After a solid 3-0 first half, the Braves continued with the assault on goal as Martin Tomter tallied his sixth goal of the season in the 55th minute on the assist by Hoek and Laitinen off a transition shot inside the box.

Again at the 63:22 mark, sophomore Sam Miles notched his seventh goal of the season on the assist by Tomter as the ball was crossed to the left side of the box to give UNCP a 5-0 lead. Senior Todd May gave the Braves the final goal of the game on a chip over the netminder on the assist by freshman Carter Creech.

"We had a lot of good performances and a lot of guys that played," said UNCP head coach Phil Hindson. 

Barton (2-5-1) was unable to take a shot in the first half, while UNCP matched a school record with only three shots allowed during the match. Dante De Luca posted two shots for the Bulldogs, while Archer Bane chipped in one.

The Black and Gold finished the game with 31 shots, 16 of those were on goal. Miles led the Braves with five shots, while Hoek and Laitinen each tallied four shots. Tomter and Daniel Bougt added three shots, while eight other Braves posted at least one shots.

"I think our movement was good and our passing. We changed the point of attack very well and our scoring was good. We had a good overall performance defensively and added another shutout. We have only allowed four goals this year which is something we are proud of and want to continue to do," Hindson said.

Junior Ryan Hanson spent all 90 minutes in goal and garnered only one save. Barton's goalkeeper Vassily Yakimkin gave up four goals despite collecting seven saves, while Dalton Bauer permitted the final two goals before tallying three saves. 

UNCP took 11 of the 12 corner kicks, while Barton posted 11 fouls including a yellow card compared to eight fouls committed by the Braves.

"We know we have a very good game this weekend but the main thing we were stressing was not to look beyond tonight because Barton is a good team and we knew they could beat us if we didn't have the right attitude," Hindson said.

The Braves will return to Peach Belt Conference action on Saturday when the Black and Gold travel to St. Augustine, Fla. to battle conference favorite Flagler (6-1-1) with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

To watch the full game click HERE.