CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Charlotte men’s soccer squad scored three unanswered goals in a 3-1 defeat of Saint Louis on Friday night at Transamerica Field, pushing its winning streak to seven.

The 49ers (10-4, 5-0 A-10) dominated the whole game out-shooting the Billikens (4-6-2, 2-3) 15-5, and earning six corner kicks to Saint Louis’ three. Junior Gavin Dawson moved to 5-0 in goal for the Niners, and registered one save in the contest.

Though Charlotte controlled the match, the Billikens struck first on their first shot. In the 13^th minute, Saint Louis’ Devon Newport crossed a corner kick into the box. After the ball bounced around for a while, the Niners tried to clear it, but it ended up back on the foot of Newport who rolled the ball through traffic and past Dawson in the far corner of the net.

Charlotte quickly responded 10 minutes later with a pretty goal of their own. Freshman Will Mayhew beat his defender to the right side of the field and got off a cross right to freshman Tyler Gibson, who headed the ball in up close. The goal marked Gibson’s fourth goal of the season. Mayhew tallied the assist on the play. The two teams remained knotted at one apiece going into halftime, even though the 49ers owned a 9-1 advantage in shots.

In the 72^nd minute the Niners took the lead on an unusual play. Senior Andres Cuero possessed the ball 30 yards out in Saint Louis territory and floated a ball into the opponent’s box, where freshman Aidan Kirkbride battled Billiken defenders and headed the ball high up into the air. The header lured Saint Louis goalie Mark Pais out of the goal, but he could not grab the ball. Junior defender Charles Rodriguez got behind the aggressive Billiken defender marking him and Pais to kick the ball in as it came down.

“Coach Gunn always talks about, when we do set pieces, we have to get our bodies against the guys defending us,” Rodriguez said. “A couple of guys did it, Isaac and Aidan did it. Then a couple of guys fell and I was there.

Cuero added an insurance goal with a beautiful shot in the79th minute. Cuero tracked down a ball in Billiken territory and weaved through several Saint Louis defenders full speed toward the goal. Before defenders could converge on the Austin, Texas native, he launched a perfect strike from 25 yards out, and Pais could only watch as the ball sailed by him into the top right corner of the net.

“I was in the right spot at the right time to collect the ball,” Cuero said of his goal. “I beat my guy and I had a lot of green grass, so I decided to go for it and take my shot. It was definitely a huge confidence boost for me and the rest of the team.”

Cuero notched his team-leading fifth goal of the season and now sits tied with Gibson for the team lead in points. Both Niners own 11 points on the season. Saint Louis could not mount a comeback, and the 49ers moved to 5-0 in conference play and notched their seventh-straight victory with the 3-1 win. The winning streak ties for the third-longest in school history.

 “Saint Louis did a good job of slowing the game down and they were really just trying to soak up pressure and counter attack,” head coach Jeremy Gunn said. “When they got a goal against our run of players, it makes it very difficult for us. It wasn’t the best of start for us, but we didn’t panic, and in the second half we kept pressing. Chuck scored a good goal and Andres’ final goal was the icing on the cake.”

Charlotte now receives a week off before returning to the pitch next Friday for a bout with Saint Joseph’s at 7 p.m. Live stats and results will be available on charlotte49ers.com.