The San Francisco Deltas secured their first win on the road with a dramatic late goal by Jackson to defeat North Carolina FC 2-1.

Defender Reiner Ferreira gave the Deltas a lead in the first half on a header off a corner kick. His goal ended a 292-minute scoreless streak for the team.

San Francisco weathered several good chances from North Carolina to keep their lead including a dramatic kick save by keeper Romuald Peiser on the last play of the first half. NCFC kept up the attack in the second period and were finally rewarded in the 85th minute when Billy Schuler poached a bad Delta back pass to slot the tying goal.

Just when it looked like the Deltas had lost two points on the road, Jackson came to the rescue.

The Deltas pushed forward, and Michael Stephens earned a free kick. Christian Portilla lofted the free kick into the box where the unmarked Brazillian winger whipped in a header past NCFC keeper Brian Sylvestre.

“Today, I’m happy our guys paid the price,” said Deltas head coach Marc Dos Santos. We suffered there for a moment, but when we went back ahead, everybody was ready to defend the result. It was great to see our guys respond in a situation like that.”

The Deltas revamped their lineup after a three-game scoreless streak. Dos Santos switched from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2 with Devon Sandoval, Tyler Gibson and Bryan Burke entering the starting lineup.

“We need everybody on this team. We’re all going to play an important role. To see the fight and the spirit of the guys is impressive,” explained Dos Santos.” It takes a mentality that guys fight for each other and that’s what happened today.”

With the result, the Deltas moved up into a tie for third place in the standings with 9 points just behind Jacksonville (10 points) and Miami FC (11 points).

The Deltas remain on the road next week taking on FC Edmonton Sunday, May 14th at 4 pm PDT.