Charlotte men beat Elon, 2-1

ELON, NC - Senior midfielders Luke Exley and Adam Gross scored as the Charlotte 49ers (1-1) rallied with two unanswered goals for a 2-1 win on the road over Elon.

"This was a fantastic road win by our team," Charlotte coach Jeremy Gunn said. "We defeated a quality Elon team today. Both teams went for it playing an exciting attacking brand of soccer. This game went back and forth."

Elon scored the game’s first goal when Chris Thomas put a long pass from Steve Kinney into the back of the net in the 7th minute.

"After Elon scored the early goal, I was proud of how our team stayed composed," Gunn said. "We settled into a very good rhythm offensively after that goal."

Exley answered for the 49ers when he took an Evan James cross and chipped a shot over the head of Elon’s goalkeeper Clint Irwin into the back of the net in the 32nd minute tying the match at one.

"Evan started our scoring chance off with a tremendous run," Gunn said. "The goal was a fantastic finish by Luke Exley."

Gross scored his second goal of the season when he took a long pass from James and beat several Elon defenders and blasted a shot from 10 yards out into the back of the net in the 57th minute. Gross’ goal was his first career game-winning goal.

"This was a hard fought match and we came through with a good win," Gross said. "My goal was started by a good build up from our team in the back. I was able to finish it off with a goal."

The 49ers conclude their three-game season-opening road swing at ACC foe Clemson, Wednesday, September 9 at 7 pm.