10-Man North Carolina FC Rallies To Earn A Draw

North Carolina FC 1 – 1 Memphis 901 FC

Cary, NC—For the second time in as many games, North Carolina FC were down a goal in the middle of the second half. Adding insult, they went down a player when captain Austin da Luz was sent off for committing the foul that led to the penalty kick that put the visitors in front. But we’ll circle back to that penalty in a bit.

A newcomer to the USL Championship League, Memphis 901 FC made its first visit to Sahlen’s Stadium for the Saturday night matchup. Head coach Tim Mulqueen’s team employed a defensive game plan to disrupt North Carolina’s rhythm and creativity. But the home team came out with the sense of urgency that NCFC head coach Dave Sarachan said was missing from their previous outing, setting Memphis back on their heels.

“We wanted to up the tempo and play higher than teams have against them,” Mulqueen remarked after the game. “We know they have a talented midfield, so we felt that if we gave them enough time on the ball in midfield, they could hurt us.”

Sarachan said he liked what he saw from his team coming off of the opening whistle. “I was really pleased with our start tonight,” he said in his post-game remarks. “Compared to a week ago, I thought the energy was great, the soccer was good, the movement, the confidence. The first third of the first half, I thought, was sharp.”

North Carolina got their first look at goal in 12^thminute when midfielder Ben Speas curled a pass toward Yamikani Chester and Donovan Ewolo who were camped out on Memphis’ doorstep but Ewolo couldn’t get his head on the ball and it skittered out for a goal kick.

In the 22^ndminute, defender Aaron Guillen took the ball in the defensive end of the field and slipped by two Memphis defenders.  He carried the ball quickly through midfield and squared a pass to Speas who brought the ball toward the 18-yard box and pushed the ball over to Manny Perez at the edge of the box. Perez chipped the ball toward the far post but Memphis forward Wes Charpie headed the ball out for an NCFC corner.

Memphis’ first good chance of the match came in the 34^thminute when veteran defender Marc Burch took a free kick from 40 yards out. Charpie got his head on the ball but it went right into the arms of NCFC goalkeeper Alex Tambakis.

Late in the half, da Luz played a perfect ball to Perez, who had made a solid case for getting into the starting XI for NCFC. Perez took a touch and tried to get around Caldwell but bounced it off of the goalkeeper for another NCFC corner.

The best chance of the first half came in the 44^thminute when Memphis defender Morgan Hackworth pressed high and rifled a right-footed shot on frame and had Tambakis beat. The ball hit the crossbar and bounced straight down before the NCFC keeper collected it.

The second half showed indications of turning into a grind right away as both teams appeared to restart the “getting to know you” process before the game started to open up again.

Once again it was Ben Speas who made a slick move around two Memphis defenders to bring the ball through midfield. He played the ball over to Chester who took a touch to get the defenders flat-footed before launching a shot at the net. Caldwell easily made the save but the play rebooted the game in the 55^thminute.

As the game stretched into the 59^thminute Memphis forward Duane Muckette clattered into Austin da Luz and referee Guido Gonzales awarded NCFC a free kick. The NCFC captain tried to take the free kick quickly but Gonzales called it back, much to da Luz’s frustration, which he expressed to the referee. Given that da Luz had words with Gonzales earlier in the first half, this was a moment to put a pin in: no doubt it would be a factor in the controversy to come.

Four minutes later, da Luz lost possession of the ball to Memphis midfielder Ewan Grandison just outside of the North Carolina penalty area. The Dead Whales’ captain grabbed Grandison, who went down inside the penalty area. Gonzales immediately pointed to the penalty spot, but da Luz pointed outside the penalty area, arguing that the foul started outside the box. On replay, it appeared that da Luz had a good case against a penalty kick, but Gonzales ejected him from the game for denial of a goal scoring opportunity against Grandison.

Memphis captain Burch blasted the penalty kick right through the middle past Tambakis, who dove to his right. The visitors were ahead 1-0.

Down a player and behind a goal, North Carolina head coach Dave Sarachan turned to his veterans to help the side keep their composure and create opportunities. Steven Miller replaced Chester just after Memphis took the lead. Eight minutes later, forward Marios Lomis came on for Ewolo in a like-for-like substitution.  The veterans teamed up to nearly pull the home team level in the 73^rdminute when Miller sent a ground ball toward Lomis, who tapped it back to Guillen. The defender, who had put in a solid shift, flicked a nifty backheel to Manny Perez just outside of the 6-yard box but Perez couldn’t take a shot before the Memphis defense knocked it out for a corner.

“Obviously, the red card changes the game,” Sarachan said later, “At that point, you grind and I think you got a good taste of what this group’s about, in terms of competing and in terms of understanding…if we can get something out of this game, we’re still going to do it.”

Tambakis would come up big for his club again in the 76^thminute when Elliot Collier carried the ball into the NCFC 18-yard box and took it around Miller before getting a shot at Tambakis who stuck his foot out to make the save and Adam Najem’s follow up shot rolled wide.

Sarachan had praise for his goalkeeper, “Alex Tambakis was terrific tonight, he saved us, big time.”

In the 77^thminute, Perez took the ball around one Memphis defender and carried it into the middle of the field, right outside of the penalty area. He tried to play a pass off to Miller, but the ball bounced off of defender Tristan Hodge and went out of bounds. After consulting with the assistant referee, Gonzales called Hodge for a handball and awarded NCFC a free kick at the top of the penalty area.

With the Memphis wall set up and the ball so close to goal, Lomis said he moved the ball back a bit, “otherwise, it’s too close.” He set up his free kick thinking that Caldwell would cheat near post, so he curled a shot around the wall toward the top shelf out of Caldwell’s reach, and the home team was level.

“It was tough to get it on the right corner; they’re pretty tall guys in the wall” said Lomis, “so I tried to put it the other way and the keeper misstepped, I think and I picked out my corner on the left and I think it was a good shot.”

With an important point back in their pocket, NCFC worked to close down their half of the field but had a nervy moment with about four and a half minutes left in regulation. The Dead Whales conceded a dangerous free kick about 25 yards to the right of Alex Tambakis. Adam Najem curled in the free kick but Tambakis got his left hand on it to preserve the tie and keep his club undefeated.

Memphis coach Mulqueen noted after the game that his team was disappointed at leaving two points on the table against North Carolina. “But this is a tough league. When you go on the road and get anything, it’s a positive.”

Lomis said the team wasn’t completely satisfied with their game and needs to improve, but “overall, it’s a good result when we get a draw with one man down.”

Sarachan echoed the disappointment that the team didn’t play to their fullest potential on the night, “I thought tonight was a night we’d get three points, but given the context of what happened, points matter, so we’ll take it and continue to learn.”

 

Final Notes

• The captain’s armband changed possession three times for North Carolina FC on the evening. Austin da Luz started the game with the band before relinquishing it to Ben Speas when he was sent off. In the 81^stminute Graham Smith came on for Speas, who handed off the armband to Steven Miller to close out the match.
• Memphis goalkeeper Jeff Caldwell had something of a homecoming. A native of Todd, NC (in the western part of the state).
• North Carolina FC head coach Dave Sarachan made a few changes to his starting XI, bringing in Manny Perez on the wing and Yamikani Chester up front.
• Marios Lomis leads North Carolina with three goals in four games.
• NCFC remains unbeaten on the 2019 campaign and is currently in fourth place in the USL Championship Eastern Conference.
• Next up for North Carolina FC is a trip to Atlanta, who is looking to bounce back from a 0-2 loss at home to the league-leaders St. Louis FC. They will play seven of the next nine games away from WakeMed Soccer Park for their first big road test of the season.

 

Lineups

North Carolina FC (4-3-2-1): A. Tambakis; A. Guillen, S. Brotherton, A. Comsia, DJ Taylor; Y. Chester (S. Miller 65’), T. McCabe, M. Perez; A. da Luz ©, B. Speas (G. Smith, 81’), D. Ewolo (M. Lomis 72’
Memphis (4-4-2): J. Caldwell; T. Hodge, M. Burch ©, J. Hauser-Ramsey, W. Charpie; D. Muckette (O. White 66’), E. Grandison, A. Najem, M. Hackworth; R. Dally, E. Collier (A. Mohamed 86’)

Score:
North Carolina FC: 1
Memphis 901 FC: 1

Goals:
NCFC: M. Lomis (78’ unassisted)
MEM: M. Burch (64’ PK)

Discipline

North Carolina FC: A da Luz (RC 62’),  DJ Taylor (YC 85’)
Memphis: O. White (YC, 66’)

Attendance: 3,629

Photo Gallery: North Carolina FC v Memphis 901 FC

All photos by Victoria Klum