Montreat, NC - Host Montreat College defeated Johnson & Wales Charlotte 4-3 in the Wildcats' season opener on Wednesday afternoon.

JWU opened the scoring in the seventeenth minute as Dylan Steeves picked up a rebound inside the penalty area and knocked it past Cavalier goalkeeper Adrian Torres. Montreat would rally to score twice in the first half, taking a 2-1 advantage after forty-five minutes.

The game settled in at that point with neither team able to generate much while in possession. The Wildcats finally tied it up with 20 minutes to play on Giancarlo Walsh's first collegiate goal. Luke Johnson then put JWU ahead three minutes later as he slid a shot past Montreat's Frankie Zavala. 

Jeremy Villa-Osornio knotted things up with six minutes left on a curling shot from the left edge of the penalty area that found the top corner of the goal. That goal seemed to foretell a draw until the Cavaliers drew a foul twenty-five yards out directly in front of the Wildcat goal with less than thirty seconds left. Predrag Grbovic hit a perfect free kick that evaded the outstretched arms of Wildcat keeper Colin Starr for the game winner.

The Wildcats are back in action on Saturday, August 31st, when they host Columbia (SC) at 3pm.