North Carolina FC can’t find net in season-opening loss to Louisville City
After qualifying for postseason play last year for just the second time since 2012, North Carolina FC looks to carry that momentum into this season. In the club’s first test of 2020, though — a season-opening match against Louisville City FC — it came up short.
NCFC fell to three-time defending USL Eastern Conference champion Louisville City, 1-0, on Saturday afternoon at home in Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park.
Despite the loss, second-year NCFC coach David Sarachan said there were some positives he took away from his team’s performance.
“It was kind of a one-play game,” he said. “I didn’t feel Louisville pounded us by any means. I didn’t think we pounded them … We know this first game is gonna show some good and bad moments. And we just didn’t quite make a play in the final third today.”
NCFC came close to converting on a couple opportunities to score in the first half. The team put two shots on goal, with the closest call coming in the 40th minute. That’s when forward Robert Kristo headed a ball on a cross from midfielder Nazmi Albadawi, but Louisville City goalkeeper Ben Lundt smacked the attempt away off the crossbar with his right hand.
After neither team was able to find the back of the net headed to halftime, the final 45 minutes played out differently.
Louisville City began to press. And as a result, NCFC didn’t register a single shot on goal.
Then, in the 63rd minute, Louisville City struk. After midfielder Devon Williams’ shot was blocked, forward Cameron Lancaster snuck behind NCFC’s back line to pounce on the ball and drill a goal just out of the reach of goalkeeper Alex Tambakis.
“It was a bit of a pinball action in the box,” Lancaster said. “Then, I was fortunate it sort of fell to me … And that was it.”
Louisville City controlled possession the rest of the way, limiting NCFC’s opportunities to score an equalizer in the final minutes of the match.
Although Sarachan noted that there were a few positives to be taken away from NCFC’s play Saturday, players said they won’t hold onto a moral victory from the defeat. It didn’t matter that they went toe-to-toe with a team that’s won the USL Championship two of the past three seasons.
“They’re a good team, but we don’t fear anybody,” team captain Albadawi said. “... We believe that we’re one of the best teams in the league. And I think we can prove that week in and week out.
“Obviously, today didn’t go our way. But we want to improve; we want to move on. And we want to be a team that people are measuring up against, not the other way around.”
This story was originally published March 7, 2020 at 7:11 PM.