WILMINGTON, North Carolina – UNCW's Cesare D'Amico and Josef Hefele scored the first two goals of the game as the UNCW men's soccer team bested Drexel, 2-1, in the Seahawks' Coastal Athletic Association home opener on Saturday afternoon at the UNCW Soccer Stadium.

The Seahawks jumped to 2-3-3 with a 1-1 mark in the league. The Dragons stand 4-4 with a 1-2 CAA mark.

D'Amico's first career goal was a 27th-minute score assisted by fellow freshman Jacob Coates and Osei Gyamfi. Coates headed the ball to Gyamfi, who passed it forward into the box, and D'Amico booted into the lower left of the net to give UNCW a 1-0 lead it carried into halftime.

Hefele added a vital insurance goal shortly into the second half on a cross near the goal by Jake Shannon from a Gyamfi-played ball into the box to make it 2-0 after 52 minutes of action.

Drexel's Carles Aliberch made it a one-score game in the 86th minute on an assist by Yorgos Gavas but the Seahawks withstood the late push to pick up its first league win of 2024 and snap Drexel's three-game win streak.

UNCW next turns its attention to a Tuesday match-up at Campbell at 7 p.m. The game against the Camels will be a non-conference meeting and not count towards the CAA standings.