MARYVILLE, Tenn. – A tense battle at Maryville Soccer Field finally broke open in the 80th minute, when Brady Hammer buried a penalty kick to push Maryville past Johnson 1-0 on Wednesday night.

The Scots (1-1-1) opened the match on the front foot, earning an early corner in the 4th minute before Hammer's first look in the 14th was blocked inside the box. Moments later Collin Combs forced a save in the 16th, testing Johnson goalkeeper Bruno Bobato for the first time.

Johnson responded with pressure of its own, including a dangerous strike in the 22^nd that Christian Alcaraz smothered to keep the match scoreless. The Maryville keeper came up big again in the 31^st and 45^th minutes, stopping point-blank efforts to send the game to halftime knotted at 0-0.

The Scots found more rhythm after the break. Will Gallaher fired a shot through traffic in the 52^nd, but it was blocked before reaching goal. On the other end, Alcaraz continued to be sharp, turning aside Johnson's Robert Platt in the 82nd to maintain a scoreless night.

The breakthrough came in the 79th, when Johnson was whistled for a foul inside the box.  Hammer stepped to the spot and forced the ball into the lower left corner, giving Maryville the 1-0 advantage.

Johnson pushed forward late, but Maryville's back line and Alcaraz stood tall. The keeper's fourth save came in the closing minutes, and the Scots held off a flurry of corners to seal the win.

Hammer finished with two shots on goal and the decisive tally, while Alcaraz collected four saves for his first shutout of the season. Maryville outshot Johnson 12-13 and drew even in the corner battle (7-9), but the Scots made their chances count when it mattered most.

The Scots are back in action on Friday, September 5^th at 5:30 PM with a match against Spalding at the Bob Allen Nissan Classic in Danville, Kentucky.