Durval Pereira’s goal in the 85th minute gave Quinnipiac men’s soccer its fifth NEC victory of the season as the Bobcats beat the Long Island Blackbirds 1-0 on Friday at the Quinnipiac Soccer Field.

Shane Recklet crossed the ball to Pereira, who fired a shot past Blackbird goalkeeper Adam Janssen. It was Pereira’s first goal of the year, and it proved to be the difference in the game.

“It was pretty exciting,” Pereira said. “I haven’t scored a goal all season yet, and I was kind of waiting for it.”

Quinnipiac posted eight other shots on goal, but none made it past Janssen.

“The game was a little bit frustrating for all players on the field,” Quinnipiac head coach Eric Da Costa said. “Both teams played a tight game, and in conference play, no one wants to make a mistake. I thought we played better in the second half after making some adjustments at halftime.”

Quinnipiac goalkeeper Freddy Hall saved a shot by Roston Moore with less than three minutes to play to seal the victory. Hall’s only other save came in the eighth minute of the game.

Long Island finished the weekend on Sunday with a 1-0 win of their own, moving them to a tie for seventh in the NEC.