BOONVILLE -- Starmount was missing a key component but still had enough firepower to overcome Patton 3-0 in the opening round of the 2A soccer playoffs Wednesday night.

Senior midfielder Justin Shores, the 2006 Mountain Valley 2A Conference player of the year, had to serve a one-game suspension after getting his fifth yellow card against Surry Central in the regular season finale last week. The Rams had a few days to practice without him in the starting lineup and showed few ill effects in the Halloween Night contest.

Starmount scored one goal in the opening half and two more after the break to advance to the second round. Shores will return for Saturday afternoon's game at Owen High.

The Rams had two scores called back in the opening half. The first was waved off because of an offsides call. A foul disallowed the other.

Mauricio Lopez finally got Starmount on the board with 24:20 left in the opening half, converting an assist from Nate Benfield.

"We had several good looks in the first half and we scored more than one goal, but only the one counted," Starmount coach Dale Draughn said. "Their keeper did an excellent job keeping them in the game making several good saves, while their defense did good as well."

Javier Salinas pushed the Rams' lead to 2-0 with a goal at the 32:30 mark of the second half. Tyler Miller fed Salinas for the final goal of the game with about three minutes left.

Starmount outshot the Panthers 26-18. Ryan Hoilman recorded 13 saves to preserve the Starmount shutout. Jake Duncan saved 13 shots for Patton, a first-year school from Morganton.

"Coach (Keith) Scott has a solid team for them to be mainly freshmen and sophomores who make up his starting 11," Draughn said. "They will be a team in the future that teams will have to worry about."

Starmount, now 12-5-2 overall, will be the team Owen High has to worry about on Saturday. Owen possesses a 9-7-2 overall record and is the No. 1 seed from the Western Highlands Conference. The game is set to start at 1 p.m. in Black Mountain.

Saturday's winner will play either Brevard (17-3-1) or Hibriten (13-10) in next week's third-round action.

More 2A Soccer

FORBUSH 1, WEST HENDERSON 0: Goal-scoring has been a problem at times for the Falcons this season, but only one score was needed in Wednesday's playoff win in Hendersonville.

Forbush (7-11-2) will play Newton-Conover (16-6-1) in second-round action on Saturday. Newton-Conover is the No. 1 seed from the Catawba Valley Conference. Forbush finished third in the Mountain Valley.

EAST LINCOLN 4, NORTH WILKES 0: An historical season for the Vikings came to an end against the No. 2 team from the Southern Piedmont Conference. North Wilkes finished 11-7-1, earning the most wins in boys soccer history at the school.

WILKES CENTRAL: The Eagles, champions of the MVAC, received a first-round bye and will host Smoky Mountain in Saturday's second-round action.

MONROE 1, SURRY CENTRAL 0: The Golden Eagles lost in double overtime Wednesday night.