North Carolina FC 0 – 1 Louisville City FC
Cary, NC—When you take on a perennial powerhouse club such as Louisville City FC, you don’t expect an easy day at the park, but North Carolina FC was hoping to recreate the mojo that saw them dismantle the defending Eastern Conference champions a year ago (give or take a Leap Day).
Entering his second year at the helm, NCFC manager Dave Sarachan fielded a team of familiar faces, with every player returning from the 2019 squad. With some of the off-season departures, opportunities opened up for players like defender Caleb Duvernay and forward Robbie Kristo to crack the starting eleven.
North Carolina FC forward Robbie Kristo makes a slide tackle on Louisville City FC defender Jimmy Ockford.
Right off the opening whistle, North Carolina looked to be on the front foot with veteran midfielder Ben Speas creating some chaos through midfield and Kristo finding some daylight behind Louisville’s back line. But the home team wasn’t able to finish any opportunities before Louisville got their legs under them.
With an uncharacteristically rough pitch, the game soon slowed to a grind, though D.J. Taylor and Manny Perez were creating some sharp combination plays down the right wing. The best chance of the half came in the 40th minute when NCFC captain Nazmi Albadawi cycled out to the right flank and picked out Kristo at the far post. The big forward climbed the ladder over his defender and nodded the ball on goal, but Louisville keeper Ben Lundt got his glove on it and shoved it into the crossbar. Kristo thought he had opened his 2020 account, but the ball bounced outside of the goal and play continued.
Hadji Barry made his debut for North Carolina FC coming in for Manny Perez in the second half.
Louisville head coach John Hackworth made a halftime adjustment, swapping a hobbled Oscar Jimenez for Akil Watts at the back, specifically to solve his team’s issues dealing with Perez’s speed down the wing. “We were having a problem with Manny Perez,” Hackworth said after the game, “Oscar Jimenez, is usually one of the best left backs in the league, but his groin was really tight, so we were forced to make that change and brought Akil Watts on.” Watts did a notable job of neutralizing Perez, but the young NCFC midfielder had taken a knock in the first half which eventually saw him make way for Hadji Barry.
The visitors cranked up their high press in the second half, frustrating the Dead Whales’ attack and preventing them from getting through midfield. Louisville started creating some chances in NCFC’s final third and started testing goalkeeper Alex Tambakis. A strange play in the 60th minute nearly put Louisville on the board when Cameron Lancaster picked up a pass at the top of the penalty arc. He spun around and fired the ball and Tambakis appeared to think the shot was going wide and he made no move toward the ball. The ball clanked off of the post and bounced safely outside of the goal and the supporters groups behind the North Carolina goal let out a collective sigh of relief.
North Carolina’s relief was short-lived, however when there was another broken play in their 18-yard box. After pinballing around the top of the box, the ball bounced out to Speedy Williams who drilled the ball toward goal. The shot deflected off of the North Carolina defense and ended up at Lancaster’s feet. NCFC’s defenders held up believing Lancaster was in an offside position but referee Adam Kilpatrick let play continue and Lancaster drove the ball past Tambakis to put the defending eastern conference champions on top 1-0 in the 63rd minute.
That would be the only goal of the game as Louisville City locked down the midfield to secure the win.
While disappointed with the result, Sarachan felt that it was an even game. “I thought it was a one-play game. I didn’t feel Louisville pounded us by any means; I didn’t think we pounded them. I thought we were not real sharp in certain spots,” he said. “We’re not happy, but we also understand that there’s some positives to take from it and just keep working.”
Final Notes
- Midfielder Nazmi Albadawi was named NCFC team captain for the 2020 season with Steven Miller serving as vice-captain.
- North Carolina’s roster is full of homegrown talent. The roster boasts nine players born in the area who have come up through the NCFC academy system. In addition, defender Alex Comsia saw action with the U-23 squad and rookie Daniele Proch played at Duke University.
- On the subject of local flavor, NCFC’s front of jersey sponsor this year is the Dreamville Music Festival. North Carolina native J. Cole began the festival in 2019, featuring local up-and-coming and national music acts, plus local food, drink, and art.
- Retired North Carolina midfielder Austin da Luz returns to the organization this season as a color commentator, joining Dean Linke on the club’s television broadcasts.
- Among the many improvements made to Sahlen’s Stadium in the off-season is the recent upgrade to the drainage system. However, the field was only recently re-sodded over which made for a sluggish pitch which affected both teams’ ability to get their rhythm going.
- Next up for North Carolina is a home match against the Philadelphia Union II on Saturday, March 14th at 2:30 p.m.
Lineups
North Carolina FC: A. Tambakis; C. Duvernay, A. Comsia, S. Brotherton, D.J. Taylor; G. Smith (D. Proch 87’); S. Miller, B. Speas (D. Fortune 74’), N. Albadawi, M. Perez (H. Barry 64’); R. Kristo
Louisville City FC: B. Lundt; P. McMahon, J. Ockford, W. Charpie, O. Jimenez (A. Watts 46’); D. Williams, N. Matsoso, C. Bone; N. McCabe, B. Ownby (P. Del Piccolo 76’); C. Lancaster (L. Spencer 87’)
Score:
North Carolina FC: 0
Louisville City FC: 1
Goals:
North Carolina FC: none
Louisville City FC: C. Lancaster, 63’ (unassisted)
Discipline
North Carolina FC: R. Kristo, YC 88’; DJ Taylor, YC 90+3’
Louisville City FC: none
Attendance: 3,515
Photo Gallery: North Carolina FC v Louisville City FC
all images by Victoria Klum
