WINGATE, N.C. -- Lenoir-Rhyne cruised to their first win in conference play with a 2-0 victory at Wingate on Wednesday afternoon.
Daniel Martinez and
Hector Taboada each scored goals while
Tomas Fontes was forced to make just two saves in net to secure the Bears first road win of the year.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Lenoir-Rhyne 2, Wingate 0
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (2-4-2, 1-2-2 SAC), Wingate (2-6, 2-2 SAC)
Location: Wingate, N.C. | WU Soccer Complex & Pride Park
STATS OF THE MATCH:
- The Bears went on the attack early with two shot attempts and two corner kicks in the opening five minutes.
- Tomas Fontes made his first save on a high center shot from Camilo Salazar in the eighth minute.
- Xairo Villalon found Daniel Martinez for the Bears first goal of the game in the 19th minute.
- Lenoir-Rhyne generated one last scoring opportunity before time expired from Guillermo Garcia.
- The Bears out shot the Bulldogs 8-2 and held a 3-1 shots on goal advantage in the first 45 minutes.
- Hector Taboada produced his second goal of the season off a perfect ball from Voro Rivera Peris in the 48th minute.
- Lenoir-Rhyne continued to pepper shots on net in the second half with shots from Taboada and Raul Canas from the 57th to the 61st minute.
- Wingate produced their best chance on goal in the 86th minute, but Fontes made the save on the Bulldogs' Jude Enwhistle.
- The Bears finished win a season-high 21 shot attempts while holding the Bulldogs to just three of their own.
- There were a total of 26 fouls between these two clubs.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- This is the 54th all-time game between these programs.
- Wingate leads the all-time series 31-19-4.
- This marks the Bears first win at Wingate since the 2017 season.
- Daniel Martinez scored his 5th career goal at Lenoir-Rhyne and his first since scoring twice in the SAC semi-finals against Coker last year.
- Xairo Villalon has an assist in two of the last three games.
- Hector Taboada becomes the third Bear this season with at least two goals scored.
- Voro Rivera Peris picked up his first assist as a Bear and now has five career points.
- Tomas Fontes now has four shutouts and six wins in net in his LR career.
- This is the third straight game the Bears have held their opponent scoreless in the first half.
UP NEXT: Lenoir-Rhyne will return home to face off against the Coker Cobras on Saturday night. This is a rematch of last year's SAC semi-finals that saw Lenoir-Rhyne prevail in a 2-1 overtime win. The Cobras are coming off a 3-1 loss to Emory & Henry last Saturday. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.