— Coming into Saturday’s match against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, Wuilito Fernandes had played only two minutes since coming to North Carolina FC last offseason. He played six more minutes Saturday, long enough for Fernandes to score his first goal for NCFC and give the Dead Whales a much-needed 2-1 victory over the fourth-place Riverhounds.

“It was really important,” Fernandes said about the win. “We started the second half of the season a week or two ago, and now every game matters, especially games at home. We try to win every one of them.”

The Riverhounds came in with a USL-low two losses and eight goals allowed over 18 matches this year; no other USL team had surrendered fewer than 13 goals coming into this weekend. Pittsburgh also had no road losses in eight games this year.

Those hurdles notwithstanding, North Carolina FC grabbed the initial advantage in the 24th minute. Steven Miller sent a quick throw-in to Kyle Bekker on the left wing, who centered to Daniel Rios. Rios maneuvered around Riverhounds defender Tobi Adewole before calmly slotting his shot into the lower right corner of goal for an early 1-0 lead that held until intermission. It was Rios’ eleventh goal and Bekker’s ninth assist this season, both good for second-best in the USL.

The opening half left Riverhounds manager Bob Lilley fuming, so much so that he pulled forward Romeo Parkes in the 31st minute. “When we got the ball, I thought we showed no ambition in the first half,” Lilley said. “The reality is we didn’t participate in the first half in my mind, or certainly not at the level we would want to.”

As an isolated rain storm swept over WakeMed Soccer Park at the outset of the second stanza, Pittsburgh equalized in the 57th minute. Christiano François took a service from Kay Banjo, who came on for Parkes, then drove off the right wing around Miller before firing a shot that pierced water pellets on its path into the inside netting, evening the match at 1-1.

As regulation time drew nigh and a draw appeared inevitable, North Carolina FC found the much-needed game-winner just as the clock struck 90. Riverhounds goalkeeper Dan Lynd swatted away a Miller free kick, but second-half substitute Fernandes sized up the volley and skimmed his left-footed putback across the damp grass into goal, giving NCFC a 2-1 victory.

“As soon as we got the foul, I went up to Steven and told him to basically place the ball between the middle goal and back post,” Fernandes said about his first goal this year. “I was going to try as much as I could to get on the end of it. He trusted it, and we got the goal.”

Fernandes said his first option was to look for a possible header. “Honestly, I was looking for a header, but as soon as I saw the ball wasn’t going to get to me and Connor [Tobin] going up for it, I kind of gambled that the rebound was going to come to me, and I was right for it.”

“They’re a tough team,” Clarke said about the Riverhounds. “They’ve only conceded eight goals all year, and fair play to them even tonight; we see how they responded in the second half. In the first half we were outstanding, the way we moved the ball and passed it. We got our goal and could have added another one. It was a good night.”

North Carolina FC’s three second-half substitutions—Donovan Ewolo and Marcel Kandziora together around 73rd minute, and then Fernandes in the 84th—also accompanied right outside back D.J. Taylor moving to the left side and Miller dropping to right back. Clarke said each substitution and shift came with particular yet related purposes.

“François is a very good player, and he was causing us a lot of problems down that [left] side,” Clarke said. “So, I decided to move D.J. [Taylor] over there. We brought Aaron [Guillen] off because he had a yellow, so that was on our mind. D.J. is a little bit quicker. Marcel [Kandziora] is also a good defender who could work up and down that side and give them problems going the other way. And I just felt we needed some legs up top—we were sort of sitting off them and not able to get pressure on them, so I knew Ewolo’s energy would give them problems, and it did.”

The last time Riverhounds head coach Bob Lilley visited WakeMed Soccer Park was 2010, when he managed the Rochester Rhinos. Lilley was not in a mood for nostalgia after Saturday’s match, keeping in team huddled near midfield for over 20 minutes.

“We have accountability in terms of our system and what our expectations are, and I don’t think we did a good job as a group tonight,” Lilley said. “That’s why we dug a hole for ourselves. I won’t go into all the particulars, but if you’re not ready to play, this is a good team down here. What we’ve said to the guys all week is [North Carolina] is a better team than their record would indicate. There’s good players and experienced players, and it’s a big field that they play well on. You’re going to have to play collectively and be solid, or you’re going to struggle.”

The second straight win for North Carolina FC (7-5-8, 26 pts.) moves it into a three-way tie for 10th position in the USL Eastern Conference standings, just two points outside the playoff picture. With 12 games still left in the season, NCFC stays home next Saturday to host the Charleston Battery, hoping to further climb up the table.

“We’re in a good spot mentally moving forward,” Clarke said. “The soccer part of it comes, but right now, mentally, the group is in a very good place.”

BOX SCORE

LINEUPS

NC: Tambakis, Taylor, Tobin, Harrington, Guillen (Kandziora, 73’), G. Smith, da Luz, Shipalane (Ewolo, 74’), Bekker (Fernandes, 84’), Miller, Rios

PGH: Lynd, Lee (Lubahn, 84’), Adewole, Greenspan, Dover, Vancaeyezeele, Dabo, Forbes, Kerr (Zemanski, 63’), Parkes (Banjo, 31’), François

GOALS

NC: Rios, 24’ (Bekker); Fernandes, 90+1’

PGH: François, 57’ (Banjo)

CAUTIONS

NC: Guillen, 42’

PGH: ---

EJECTIONS

NC: ---

PGH: ---

ATTENDANCE: 3,896