WINGATE – Despite a tied 1-1 score at halftime, the visiting No. 24 UNC Pembroke men's soccer team fell victim to a dynamic offensive charge by No. 10 Wingate as the Bulldogs inched away slowly throughout the second half with three goals to take the 4-1 victory on Wednesday evening in Wingate.

Sophomore Reece Rooney opened up the match with his first goal of the season at the 6:34 mark off a cross pass from sophomore Adam Smith from the deep corner on the opposite side of the field. The Braves (2-1-0) suffered their first loss of the season in spite of scoring the opening goal of the game. 

Wingate (2-0-0) responded less than 10 minutes later with a fast break by James Card to tie the match at one goal apiece heading into halftime. Charlie Machell delivered two goals between the 56th minute and the 66th minute to solidify the strong lead for the Bulldogs.

With less than one minute left in regulation play, UNCP was called for hand ball on the cross pass which set up the penalty kick for Peron Da Silva which served for the final goal of the contest and win.

"It was a difficult matchup tonight because they are on point and a very good team," said UNCP head coach Phil Hindson. "They threw everything at us which proved to be a little too much for us, and we were beaten by a better team at the end of the match."

The Bulldogs were awarded 4-of-5 yellow cars and totaled 17 fouls compared to UNCP's 13, including 18 combined fouls in the second half between the two teams.

Senior Ryan Hanson finished all 90 minutes in goal, collected four saves and gave up the most goals in a game since 2010 in the Peach Belt Conference tournament against Lander, while Wingate netminder Daniel DeGraff held onto only one save in the final 45 minutes, but gave up his first goal of the season in the contest.

The Bulldogs finished the match with 18 shots, 10 of which came in the second half, while UNCP struggled with only four shots throughout the game by James Casserly, Rico Laitinen, Daniel Bougt and Rooney. 

The Black and Gold will open up PBC action on Saturday when the squad returns to Pembroke to battle visiting Georgia Southwestern (1-2-0, 0-0-0 PBC) in a 3:30 p.m. matchup at Varsity Grounds.