CARY, N.C. – As Steven Miller teed up what appeared to be a last, best chance for North Carolina FC to claim a much-needed victory against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC from a last-minute free kick on the right side, he was approached by teammate Wuilito Fernandes.

“As soon as we got the foul, I walked up to Steven [Miller] and told him to place the ball between the middle of the goal and the back post,” said Fernandes. “I was going to try as much as I can to get on the end of it. He trusted me by playing that ball, and we got the goal.”

Fernandes may not have made the initial attack on the ball at the top of the penalty area as he might have intended, but that didn’t matter. An attempted punched clearance by Riverhounds SC goalkeeper in the middle of a sea of players rising for the ball at the top of the six-yard area fell straight to Fernandes, whose low finish went through the sea of legs before him and found the net to give NCFC a 2-1 victory at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park.

The stoppage-time winner gave North Carolina its second consecutive win after a hard-fought battle that had seen Riverhounds SC rally behind a goal from Christiano Francois to level after Daniel Rios’ 11th goal of the season had put the hosts ahead in the first half. Even with Pittsburgh’s lofty position in the conference standings, with NCFC sitting below the playoff line in the Eastern Conference it was a game the side felt it had to win, and Fernandes’ first goal for the club brought the payoff it was looking for.

“It’s really important,” said Fernandes. “We’re into the second half of the season and every game matters, especially games that we play at home; we’re trying to win every single one of them.”

The loss was the first on the road this season for Riverhounds SC, and the second in a row for the side as it saw victories for Louisville City FC and the Charleston Battery drop the club back to fourth in the conference standings. It was only the third time this season Pittsburgh had conceded twice in a game – having emerged with 2-2 draws on the two previous occasions – and Riverhounds SC Head Coach Bob Lilley gave credit to North Carolina’s performance.

“I think in the first half NCFC was very strong, we were chasing shadows,” said Lilley. “That took our legs out and we never really found consistency in the game. We picked up our intensity in the second half, got a goal back and I was hopeful we could find a second. We had them on the ropes for a stretch but today was their day and they played very well.”

While Fernandes’ goal was big for North Carolina’s playoff hopes, so was what occurred elsewhere in the Eastern Conference on Saturday night as none of the other contenders around the playoff line claimed victory. Now sitting in 10th place in the standings, only two points back of the eighth-place Charlotte Independence, the road doesn’t seem quite as challenging as it might have at the start of Saturday’s action.

With another big test against the Battery to come next Saturday night, however, North Carolina knows there’s still a long way to go for the side to reach its full potential.

“We’re getting there,” said Fernandes. “We’re going to come in day in and day out in training and try to apply every single thing that the coaches come up with to try to get ready for games. We still have a long way to go. We’re going to get better and better as the season goes on.”