LAWRENCEVILLE — Mohamed Mohamed knows that sometimes one goal is all it takes. The junior forward with the Lawrenceville School boys’ soccer team was happy that cognition worked in his’ and his teammates’ favor Wednesday as the fourth-seeded Big Red defeated fifth-seeded Peddie, 3-0, in the opening round of the New Jersey Independent Schools Athletic Association Prep A Tournament at Woods Fields. With the victory, second-year head coach Chris Whalen’s 5-10-2 squad moves on to play top-seeded Pennington (9-1) Wednesday, Oct. 30 at a time to be announced in the semifinal round. “Getting that first goal helped us a lot,” Mohamed said. “When you get one, you keep going from there.” Mohamed, who came to Lawrenceville from Somalia, was lucky enough to score that first goal yesterday on the grass surface. After seeing Falcons’ striker Jelani Cine, their only senior, hit the post from close range midway through the first half, Mohamed and his teammates went down the other end, where he connected on a pass from postgraduate Aaron Rodricks about 1:30 later. The Big Red kept the pressure on from there and, within five minutes, had doubled their lead when Rodricks put a ball that came off a defender into the back of the net. “The players are working hard, and they’re getting better,” said eighth-year Peddie head coach Malcolm Murphy, whose young club dropped to 1-10. “The main difference today was that physically they were more superior in the midfield and back.” Despite those two first-half slips, the visitors, with the help of eight saves by junior goalkeeper Pote Sophonsiri, kept the game tight for much of the second half until L’ville’s other postgrad, Yaseen Mousa, broke through to knock in a lead from sophomore Toler Wreaks at the midway mark. From there, sophomore goalie Henry Cohen finished off the shutout for the home side with six saves. “It always starts at one, then we gain confidence,” Mohamed said. “I thought we played really well as the game continued. We stopped a five-game losing streak.” The Big Red, who will play at Peddie in a regular-season, Mid-Atlantic Prep League contest at 2 p.m. Saturday, needed the boost in a weird, injury-plagued season which began 2-1-2. The Falcons understand in a stretch that has seen them drop their last seven games, during which they have only scored one goal. “When you’re struggling to score, you have to keep yourself in the game and stay emotionally intact,” said Murphy, who returned to Lawrenceville’s Woods Fields complex for the first time in a decade since he was Princeton Day School’s head coach in 2014. Like Mohamed said, both teams are hoping one goal will get them going. Sometimes that’s all it takes. Peddie (1-10)                       0   0    —    0 Lawrenceville(5-10-2)          2   1    —    3 Goals: Mohamed, Rodricks, Mousa (L); Assists: Rodricks, Wreaks (L). Shots: 7 (P), 12 (L); Saves: Sophonsiri 8 (P), Cohen 6 (L). REGULAR SEASON NORTHERN BURLINGTON 3, MOORESTOWN FRIENDS 2 MOORESTOWN — Luke Kekesi tallied twice and assisted on Monroe Castor’s goal as the Greyhounds rallied in the second half to defeat the Foxes. No. Burlington (7-5-1)          0   3    —    3 MoorstwnFrnds(7-5)            1   1    —    2 Goals: Kekesi 2, Castor (NB), Kolaris, Verma (MF); Assists: Villegas, Font, Kekesi (NB), Galanis, Schlotterbeck (MF). Shots: 8 (NB), 9 (MF); Saves: Brennan 7 (NB), Anaya 5 (MF). MAPLE SHADE 8, STEMCIVICS CHARTER 1 EWING — The Purple Lightning scored in the first half, but could not keep pace with the Wildcats. MapleShade(9-4-1)              5   3    —    8 STEMCivics(2-12)               1   0    —    1 Goals: Vivas Roque 2, Barcelos 2, Jones, Coffin, Peard, Powell (MS), n/a (SCC); Assists: Coffin, Peard 2, Palillero (MS), n/a (SCC). Shots: 16 (MS), 3 (SCC); Saves: Stratton 1, Patel 1 (MS), Salinas 8 (SCC).