CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Two early penalty kicks sealed No. 15 Charlotte 49ers men’s soccer victory over George Washington at Transamerica with the Niners piling up six goals in the Atlantic 10 Opener with Charlotte improving to 7-1-2 on the season and GWU falling to 6-4. Adam Gross notched two goals for the Niners with Luke Exley, Owen Darby, Donnie Smith and Jennings Rex also tallying goals.

“George Washington is an incredible team and for us to come out and play the way we did in the first half is amazing especially considering it was the A-10 opener,” stated head coach Jeremy Gunn. “The boys really took the game to GWU and we kept them on their back-foot throughout the game, which is really special.”

The victory moved Charlotte to 6-2 in conference openers and 4-1 in A-10 starters. Charlotte dominated the match by outshooting the Colonials, 22-7, with 14 shots being directed on frame against GWU goalkeeper, Erik Haug.

“We made a statement to the rest of the A-10 that Charlotte is a fortress and it’s an extremely tough place to play and we are going to protect our home field,” Gross said. “George Washington was a good team with a good record and we came out and knocked them off their mark tonight.”

Charlotte took the lead in the 7th minute, when Gross connected on a penalty kick, which was awarded to the Niners after Evan James was taken down on a breakaway by GWU keeper, Huag. The goal was Gross’ third of the season and gave Charlotte the early lead.

Another penalty kick was awarded to Charlotte five minutes later after Isaac Cowles was tackled inside the penalty area. This time, Exley walked up to take the penalty kick and was successful, which gave him four goals on the year.

The scoring on the night wasn’t over for Gross as he tallied another goal in the first half this time in the 25th minute. An Exley shot was directed straight towards Gross, who re-directed the ball towards the left corner and past a diving Huag.

The Niners increased their lead to four in the 41st minute when Darby scored off a Jason Hawes corner kick. Hawes’ kick was directed towards Gross, who deflected the ball to Darby who then knocked the ball into the net for Charlotte’s fourth goal of the first half, which is a season high for the first period.

With a 4-0 lead at halftime, Charlotte cruised past the Colonials in the second half by adding two more goals to end the game with a 6-0 shutout in the conference opener. Smith added a goal in the 47th minute off an assist from James and Gross, while Rex added the game’s final goal in the 68th minute from an Isaac Caughran corner.

“The strikers looked dangerous the whole game (James and Josh Norwood) and the midfielders (Gross and Exley) kept pressuring their defense as well and came away with goals that they thoroughly deserved,” stated Gunn. “The whole team had a special performance and that is something that we can really be proud of.”

Charlotte now shifts gears to Richmond, who comes into town on Sunday at 1 p.m. with a 3-6 record entering today’s round of conference openers.

“The first conference game is always massive, especially after we had such a great out-of-conference, and it was really important for us to start on the right note,” added Gunn. “We are going to enjoy the win this evening and tomorrow morning we will focus on Richmond and look to get three more points in the conference.”