In North Moore boys’ soccer season opener entertaining 3-A Overhills Monday, the Mustangs got out of the gate fast with a 3-0 lead in the first 18 minutes of the match.

However, a late first-half goal by the Jaguars’ Rai Geans shifted the momentum to the visitors, but North Moore, which competes on the 1-A level, was able to hold off the Overhills’ rally for a 4-3 victory.

Sophomore Pedro Ugarte and senior Luis Solache scored two goals each for the Mustangs, while Ugarte had an assist along with junior Alejandro Mendoza.

“With the quick goals, we may have gotten a little over confident,” said North Moore coach Michael Shamberger. “I told the team after the game, you can’t let a team back into a game. It’s hard to get the momentum back. They (Overhills) made some adjustment at halftime that helped them.

“We were able to play everybody and see how they respond in matches. We made some mistakes, but it wasn’t bad for our first match. I would say I’m 65 percent pleased with the way we played.”

Last year’s North Moore starting goalkeeper, sophomore Danny Garcia, started the match at goalkeeper and played the first half. Junior Edgar Catalan manned the goal in the second half for the Mustangs.

North Moore’s offense dominated the match from the start with most of the action being on its offensive side of the field. In fact, most of the first half, the Jaguars were unable to muster much of an attack into Mustang territory. The Mustangs’ season-first goal came at the 33:17 mark when Ugarte fired from the right side of the goal, hitting the far left side of the net for a 1-0 lead.

The Mustangs’ second goal came less than four minutes later when Solache got an assist from Ugarte, just right of the goal from 20 yards, booting the ball past the Overhills’ goalkeeper. At the 22:41 mark on the first-half clock, Ugarte connected for his second goal with an assist from Mendoza, putting the Mustangs up 3-0.

The Mustangs missed a couple of good scoring opportunities over the rest of the half. Then, with just over three minutes left in the half, Geans got past the Mustang goalkeeper for his team’s first goal, trimming the North Moore lead to 3-1 as the half ended.

In the second half at the 34:06 mark, Overhills sophomore Geans once again got past the goalkeeper, sending the ball into the net from about 15 yards out.

About four minutes later, it appeared that Solache was about to score on a breakaway when he slipped down. Overhills missed a good opportunity score later on a header in front of the Mustangs’ goal, but goalkeeper Catalan smothered the ball, preventing the tying goal.

The Mustangs got some breathing room with 12:47 left in the contest when Solache launched a shot just over the head of the Jaguars’ goalkeeper, putting North Moore up 4-2.

Overhills didn’t back down, narrowing the margin to one at the 7:31 mark when senior Misael Guerrero got a shot into the goal on an assist from Geans.

The Mustangs’ speed and footwork were able to run out the clock without the Jaguars threatening again, preserving the North Moore win.

Both teams had two corner kicks while North Moore had three offside penalties and Overhills one.

The Mustangs continue their non-conference slate today when they travel to 3-A Southwestern Randolph. The match is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. North Moore opens its Yadkin Valley Conference schedule Monday, when it hosts South Stanly. The match is slated to start at 6:30 p.m.