GREENSBORO — Goalie Aaron Johnson came up with an outstanding sequence on a penalty kick and Michael Lahoud scored two goals to lead the Carolina Dynamo to a 2-1 win over the Atlanta Silverbacks in a Premier Development League game Friday night at Macpherson Stadium.

With the score tied 1-1 in the second half, a disputed call in front of the net gave the Silverbacks a penalty kick and a golden chance to take the lead at the 53-minute mark. But Johnson stopped the initial shot, turned back the rebound attempt and a third Atlanta shot went wide of the goal.

“I think Aaron did a great job,” Carolina coach Joe Brown said. “I was a little disappointed with the soft goal at the beginning of the second half. But there’s times that change seasons. And that penalty stop could be a season-changer for us. If we don’t walk out of here with three points tonight it’s a difficult run with Central Florida tomorrow. It was a tremendous time for him to make the saves that he made.”

Johnson came up with two more big saves before Lahoud scored the game winner on a header at the 85-minute mark.

“Mike just kind of nipped it over the goalkeeper and found the spot,” Brown said. “He found a way to get the ball in the back of the net. It was a good service, we had the numbers in the box to get it done and Mike’s second effort got it done. He had both goals tonight and he was certainly our player of the match. Not just because he scored goals but what he did on both sides of the ball tonight.”

As is its custom in home games, the Dynamo was on the attack early. This time it was finally able to get on the scoreboard early, as Lahoud scored at the 15-minute mark. Even at that early stage, it was the fourth good scoring opportunity for Carolina.

“We got the goal that we needed but the next step is we need to put teams away,” Brown said. “We had so many opportunities to put them away early. When you keep teams in games for so long, this is what happens. They sneak a goal in on us and they get a penalty on us and the next thing you know it’s 2-1. We’re fortunate tonight.”

Tonight the Dynamo takes on division-leading Central Florida and can move within two points of first place with a win.

Atlanta 0 1 — 1

Carolina 1 1 — 2

Goals: Atlanta: Sam Arthur; Carolina: Michael Lahoud 2. Assists: Carolina: Cody Arnoux, Sheanon Williams. Shots: Atlanta 6; Carolina 6. Saves: Atlanta (Ryan GermJames Maurer) 2; Carolina (Aaron Johnson) 5. Corner kicks: Atlanta 2; Carolina 5.

Records: Atlanta 6-3-1; Carolina 6-3-1.

DYNAMO WOMEN 3, ILLUSION 1: In the opening game, the Dynamo women emerged with an easy 3-1 victory over the West Virginia Illusion. Katie Andreski scored Carolina’s first goal and Hailey Beame contributed her fifth goal of the season. Ashley Church closed the scoring with her first goal of the year.