HICKORY — Kara Gavaghan’s goal in the 31st minute gave home-standing Lenoir-Rhyne the match’s first lead, but freshman Mercy Bell struck gold twice in the second half to help the UNC Pembroke soccer team upstage the Bears, 2-1, on Wednesday evening at the Moretz Soccer Complex.

It was the fourth-straight win for the Braves (5-1-0) who also stretched their road win streak out to three matches with the result as well. The setback snapped a two-match win streak for the Bears (2-2-0) who suffered their first home loss in the series with the Black & Gold in 13 seasons.

A 31st-minute corner kick found the head of one Lenoir-Rhyne player and the feet of two Braves before Gavaghan intercepted an errant clearance and fired a shot over the head of charging UNCP netminder Chiara Coppin.

In the 56th minute, Ashleigh Harris chested down a ball at the midfield stripe, turned and fired a quick pass into the attacking third where Bell out-raced a pair of defenders and got the better end of a 1-on-1 situation with L-R goalkeeper S.A. Phillips, tying the match at 1-1.

Naomi Fountain collected a loose ball near midfield and found a streaking Bell on the near sideline in the 79th minute.. Bell got a shot off just inside the penalty area that bounced off of the waiting hands of Phillips, but Bell followed through on the rebound and hit the back of the net.

Bell, the reigning Conference Carolinas Offensive Player of the Week, notched her second-straight multi-goal outing in Wednesday’s victory. The true freshman also tallied a team-best six shots, including five that went on target.

Redshirt junior Ashleigh Harris (3) and junior Anna Grossheim also logged multiple-shot contests for the visitors as well.

Junior Chiara Coppin made a pair of saves in both halves on the way to picking up her 25th career win between the pipes.

The Braves have now captured four-straight games over the last 10 days dating back to a 2-0 victory at Shaw on September 5. The club is 3-0-0 away from Pembroke over that span as well.

Wednesday’s result marked UNCP’s first road win in the series with the Bears since a 2-1 overtime triumph on Aug. 29, 2009. The Braves finished in a 2-2 draw with the Bears in Hickory in 2-2, and dropped a 2-1 decision at the Moretz Soccer Complex in 2019.

UNCP is now 3-1-0 in non-conference matchups this season. The Braves will play their final non-conference matchup of the season at Lander on September 21.

The Braves will make a quick stop home on Saturday when they suit up to battle Conference Carolinas foe King (1-3-2, 1-0-2 CC) on Alumni Day at Lumbee River EMC Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 11 a.m. and admission to all 2022 UNCP soccer home games is free.

Braves volleyball downs Francis Marion in conference opener

FLORENCE, S.C. – Precious Daley, Shannon Skryd and Vanja Przulj all logged double-doubles to help the UNC Pembroke volleyball team to a big 3-2 (13-25, 28-26, 25-21, 21-25, 15-8) victory against defending Conference Carolinas champions Francis Marion in the Battle of I-95 on Wednesday evening inside the Smith University Center.

The victory for the Black & Gold snapped a five-game skid and marked just the ninth victory against the Patriots (5-5, 0-1 CC) when playing away from Pembroke. The outcome also marked second-year head coach Carly Wehling’s first win against Francis Marion.

UNC Pembroke (4-9, 1-1 CC) took its first lead of the night, 6-5, with an ill-timed attack error from Francis Marion. The Patriots hit .286 from the net and logged seven service aces to run away with the opening set, 25-13.

In the second set, the hosts pushed their lead out to 18-12 with a kill from Lexi Albright to cap off a 5-0 scoring run. UNCP rattled off six straight points to knot the score at 20 apiece with a Francis Marion attack error. The Patriots hit .205 at the net, while the Braves hit .146, but a FMU service error and a big kill from Shannon Skryd evened the sets, with UNCP winning 28-26.

Francis Marion took a large 14-6 lead in the third set off of a kill from Katie Kemp. UNC Pembroke took a slight 20-19 lead with a key service ace from Precious Daley, and capitalized on the final points of the set to take the set 25-21.

The hosts tied the fourth-set score at 17 apiece with a kill from Lexi Albright before FMU pulled away to win 25-21. UNCP hit just .100 from the net while FMU matched a game-best .286 hitting percentage from the net to send the match into a deciding set.

In the decisive fifth set, the Braves got off to a quick start and jumped out to an early 10-2 lead with a kill from Morgan Gibbs. Francis Marion got the hot hands and trimmed their deficit back to 13-8 with a service ace from Lexi Albright, but the Braves scored the final two points of the set for the 15-8 victory.

Skryd had 18 kills and 12 digs; Daley had 13 kills, 22 digs, four aces and three blocks; Przulj had 10 kills, 16 digs and two blocks; Morgan Gibbs had 25 assists and Katie Pressley had 21.

The Braves will return to action on Friday when they welcome Emmanuel (4-6, 0-0 CC) to Pembroke for Social Media Night. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.