It has taken Wilmington Hammerheads FC less than half as many games as last year to reach seven points. Wilmington posted a strong 2-0 victory against FC Montreal on Sunday to move to 2-1-1 on the season.

Last year, following a 1-1 draw against the Charleston Battery on June 6, 2015, the Hammerheads finally earned their seventh point (1-6-4 at the time).

Quite a bit has changed since, and the rejuvenated club is sensing the difference.

“We’re just getting started,” said Matthew Barnes-Homer, who scored his team’s second goal against Montreal. “This is how we wanted to start. I think it’s a good basis for building to a better season.”

Combined with Qudus Lawal’s early first-half goal against Montreal, the Hammerheads had a strong performance en route to its second win this year. For Barnes-Homer and the Hammerheads, they know the expectations are much higher this season.

“We have a great team spirit this season,” Barnes-Homer said. “Everybody knows what’s at stake and what’s required – to make the playoffs. That’s what we concentrate on doing. We take each game as it comes and we just have to concentrate on the win today and keep winning games and keep working hard for each other.”

The success was on both sides of the ball Sunday. Defensively, the Hammerheads posted their second clean sheet of the season.

“It was just something we had been working on game-to-game. It’s not just the back line,” defender Michael Mecham said. “We’re playing well together, but everybody in front of us is making our lives easy. It’s just something we’ve been working on as a team and obviously it’s paying off for us.”

Wilmington is now in search of its third win – its season total a year ago – when it hosts a strong New York Red Bulls II side on Friday.

“We’re right where we want to be, keeping ourselves in the hunt, and hopefully we can get this win on Friday,” Mecham said. “This is a great win, but now all we’re thinking about is recovering and getting ready for Friday, trying to get a result against Red Bull.”