LAURINBURG, NC—The Coker College men’s soccer team picked up its first win of the season on Wednesday afternoon after holding off host St. Andrews, 2-1, in Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference play. The Cobras improved to 1-9-1 overall and 1-6-1 in the CVAC while the Knights fell to 3-10 and 1-6.

Freshman midfielder Olivier Harper/Orlando, FL took advantage of a direct kick at the 41:01 mark to put the Cobras on top for good. Harper ripped a low shot from approximately 40-yards out that found its way through everyone and into the right side of the Knights net. Two-minutes and five-seconds later Dominick Pierallini/Lexington, SC lifted Coker to a two-goal advantage after heading in a Sean Maupin/Lexington, SC cross.

The Knights applied pressure throughout the game but could not finish off any scoring opportunities until the last minute of the game. On their 14th and final shot of the game, Krisztian Mikoczi lifted a ball over Cobra goalkeeper Aaron Osteen/Black Mountain, NC for the goal and prevented the shutout. St. Andrews out shot Coker 14-12, while both teams had five corner kicks.

The much-depleted St. Andrews squad played injured goalkeeper Neil Hastie in the field. In his first game up front Hastie recorded an assist on Mikoczi’s goal. Marcus Gumbrecht made two saves for the Knights in his first full game in net while Osteen made three saves for the win.

Coker heads out of conference on Saturday, October 23, when North Georgia comes to Hartsville for a 2:00 PM match.