Cary, NC — Wuilito Fernandes was the stoppage time hero North Carolina FC needed to defeat their division rival Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2-1 on a soggy Saturday evening.
The last time the two teams met was on July 4th in Pittsburgh, when the Riverhounds beat North Carolina 2-0 following a long weather delay. But the NCFC squad has put together an impressive run in the second half of the United Soccer League season. They are unbeaten in their last three games, including a 3-1 win over Toronto FC II on July 21st.
The matchup pitted NCFC’s hot scorer Daniel Rios (10 goals going into the match) against a notoriously tough Riverhounds defense that leads the league in clean sheets.
NCFC took control of the field from the opening kickoff and made the Riverhounds chase them around their end of the pitch for most of the first half. North Carolina is near the top of the USL in passing accuracy at 81% and their midfield kept Pittsburgh’s offense hemmed in through most of the first half.
North Carolina got on the scoreboard in the 24’ when Steven Miller took a quick throw-in to Kyle Bekker, who then slid a pass to Rios, who had run into wide open space. Rios pulled the ball around the defender and his right-footed shot beat Pittsburgh’s Dan Lynd to give NCFC the 1-0 lead.
Despite a strong first half performance, the home team took only a 1-0 lead into halftime.
Clouds gathered over WakeMed Soccer Park as the second half began and the home team would have to weather a rainstorm and a rejuvenated Riverhounds squad. Flip the uniforms and the second half was a repeat of the first, with Pittsburgh coming out strong and controlling the run of play.
As the rain fell, Kay Banjo, who came on for Romeo Parkes in the 31st minute, looped a pass into the path of Christiano Francois, who was streaking down the right side. Francois ran the ball into the penalty area and unleashed a rocket off the side of his right foot over Alex Tambakis to level the game in the 57’.
Both sides had a good look at goal as the skies cleared. In the 72nd minute Pittsburgh’s Kenardo Forbes launched a hard shot ticketed for the upper right corner of the net, but Tambakis got his glove to it and knocked it safely away. Then in the 82nd minute Rios came very close to scoring his second goal of the night but Lynd was able to just get his hand on Rios’ right-footed shot to send it out for a corner kick.
Despite the visitors dominating the second half, it appeared that the two teams were going to grind out a 1-1 draw.
Enter Wuilito Fernandes.
An 84th minute substitution replacing Bekker, Fernandes’ game winner started from a free kick that Miller sent toward goal. Lynd punched the ball away but it went right to the foot of Fernandes who volleyed his shot through traffic and past the fallen goalkeeper, just seconds into stoppage time.
NCFC held on for the remaining 90 seconds of play to take three of the most important points of their season.
Final notes:
- After a rocky start to the 2018 campaign, Saturday night’s victory puts Colin Clarke’s team a win away from jumping into the playoff picture in the USL Eastern Conference.
- Kyle Bekker leads NCFC with 9 assists on the season but what doesn’t show up on the scoresheet is how many of NCFC’s scoring plays start from Steven Miller’s strong presence, winning the ball and making heads-up plays to set up his attacking teammates.
- With the win Saturday night, NCFC now has a winning record at Sahlen’s Stadium at 5-4-2.
- Next up for North Carolina FC is a rematch with the Charleston Battery at home on August 4. The previous match on July 7 ended in a 1-1 draw. After that they will be on the road for much of the month of August, playing in Tampa Bay, Indianapolis, and New York.
Lineups
North Carolina: A. Tambakis; D.J. Taylor, C. Tobin © , M. Harrington, A. Guillen (Kandziora 74’); G. Smith, A. da Luz, T. Shipalane (D. Ewolo 74’), S. Miller, K. Bekker (W. Fernandes 84’); D. Rios; Coach: Colin Clarke
Pittsburgh: D. Lynd; R. Lee (A. Lubahn 84’), T. Adewole, J. Greenspan, J. Dover; T. Vancaeyezeele, M. Dabo, K. Forbes, K. Kerr (B. Zemanski 63’); R. Parkes (K. Banjo 31’), C. Francois; Coach: Bob Lilley
Discipline
North Carolina: A. Guillen (YC 42’)=
Pittsburgh: None
Attendance: 3,896
North Carolina FC
USL
