— It was vuvuzela giveaway night at WakeMed Soccer Park for Saturday’s match between North Carolina FC and Toronto FC II, a promotion presumably designed to revive the more of the winning sensation that surrounded the Cary-based soccer club back in its 2010 salad days.

The resulting scattered moans emitted by the plastic noisemakers throughout the evening echoed the plaintive wails of dying whales. It was an apt impersonation, as after going down an early goal, the hometown Dead Whales scored three unanswered goals on the way to a 3-1 North Carolina FC victory, and three much-needed points, over Toronto FC II.

“I think a lot of people came here tonight expecting to see us roll [Toronto FC II] over,” said NCFC manger Colin Clarke.” But they’re a team that, if you watch them, they’re good. They’ve been in every game, they create chances, they’re good in possession. I knew we were going to have to earn it.”

“Starting the second half of the season, we have a few games at home,” said NCFC midfielder Kyle Bekker. “Tonight was a big three points. Obviously, it was a slow start with their set piece [goal], but huge response from the boys. We’ve been focusing on transition all week, and it showed tonight.

Toronto FC II came into Saturday with a USL-worst three points this season. Their 17 goals scored was tied for the lowest in the USL Eastern Conference, and the 43 goals they’d allowed were the most, by five, across the entire 32-team USL. Moreover, Toronto II had scored first in only two of their 17 matches coming into Saturday’s visit to Cary.

Thus, a stunned silence swept over the home crowd of 4,626 in the 20th minute, when Toronto forward Shaan Hundal headed home a Kyle Bjornethun corner kick to go up 1-0 on North Carolina FC.

Worry was partly abated in the 28th minute when Austin da Luz deposited his own glancing header off a Kyle Bekker corner kick to equalize 1-1.

Despite the unexpected plot turn, Clarke said he wasn’t concerned after going down a goal.

“It was still early in the game,” Clarke said. “We had possessed it pretty well, and we knew where we could hurt them, particularly down their left side/our right side. We didn’t want to go one behind, but it woke us up a little bit and made us realize we need to go out and earn this one. I thought the reaction to get the goal back before halftime was very good.”

North Carolina FC went ahead to stay after Toronto II’s Lars Eckenrode was whistled for a penalty in the 53rd minute for tripping up Daniel Rios in the area. The visitors howled in protest, and after yellow cards were flashed to a player on each team, Rios converted his kick from the spot to put the Dead Whales up 2-1.

It was Rios’ tenth goal this season, tied for third-most in the USL.

“I thought Daniel Rios did very, very well with holding the ball up and being a forward,” Clarke said. “He made some great runs into the channels, moved us up the field, drew his penalty, and took his goal.”

North Carolina accounted for the final margin in the 61st minute, when Rios centered off the end-line to an unmarked Bekker in the box. Bekker poked his shot into the lower left quadrant of the frame for the 3-1 scoreline. Bekker’s assist is his eighth this year, tied for the most in USL.

“Daniel got a ball in a great spot in that corner,” Bekker said. “He put it in a great spot, and I knew I had to get it on frame. One of them had to go in eventually.”

The second half featured five bookings as the match became increasingly chippy, some of it directed at the center referee and some a consequence of gamesmanship.

“I think there were a few decisions that both teams weren’t happy or pleased about,” Clarke snidely said. “Then when a team goes one or two behind, it always gets that way. We handled it well, because we remained with 11 players on the field.”

If you’re wanting or expecting to see the post-game observations of Toronto FC II manager Michael Rabasca, he refused to speak with the media after the match. This is the second time this year a visiting USL manager has bypassed the media room located adjacent to the visitors locker room at WakeMed Soccer Park and instead slunk to the team bus or some other rented mode of transportation.

North Carolina FC (6-5-8, 23 pts.) stays home for its next two matches, starting next Saturday, July 28 against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. North Carolina remains 13th in the 16-team USL Eastern Conference, but it’s just four points below a playoff position.

“We got to get points, yeah—I’d be disappointed if we get less than four,” Clarke said. “We’re at home and we have to win those games. They’re not easy. Those teams [Pittsburgh and the Charleston Battery], we’re certainly confident we can beat them both, but they’re both playing very well. It’s just a hard league, every game. You look at the table now, it’s so packed and tight in the middle that every point is valuable.”

“There have been games where we’ve played teams off the park and we just can’t score,” Bekker said. “And there’s been way too many times where we’ve let ourselves down. We’ve done things to put ourselves in situations to give teams either a point at home or they take all three points. It’s just consistency. We need to put in the full 90 minutes every single week, and we know we’ll be alright. We can play with any team in this league; it’s just a matter of being consistent.”

BOX SCORE

LINEUPS

NC: Tambakis, Taylor (Doue, 78’), Tobin, Harrington, Guillen, G. Smith, da Luz, Miller (Fernandes, 90’), Bekker, Ewolo (Shipalane, 24’), Rios

TOR: Angoitia, Kubel (Andrews, 84’), Romeo, Eckenrode, Bjornethun, Campbell, Waja (Faria, 66’), Daniels, Srbely (M. Johnson, 66’), Uccello, Hundal

GOALS

NC: da Luz, 28’ (Bekker); Rios, 55’ (PK); Bekker, 61’ (Rios)

TOR: Hundal, 20’ (Bjornethun)

CAUTIONS

NC: Harrington, 54’; Guillen, 70’; Bekker, 74’

TOR: Romeo, 54’; D. Campbell, 59’

EJECTIONS

NC: ---

TOR: ---

ATTENDANCE: 4,626