North Carolina FC 1 – 0 Nashville SC
Cary, NC— North Carolina FC head coach Dave Sarachan said at the beginning of the season that it would take at least the first eight-to-ten games to get a good feel for his team. Sixteen games into the 2019 season, one word that seems to define this squad is tenacity.
Coming off of a draw at St. Louis, in a game NCFC felt they should have won, they faced a Nashville offense that is near the top of the league in production. Forwards Daniel Rios, who was North Carolina’s leading scorer last season, Cameron Lancaster, Ropapa Mensah, and midfielder Lebo Moloto have figured in nearly all of Nashville’s goals this season, with Rios ripping 10 goals.
Ben Speas celebrates his goal with Aaron Guillen, who got the assist.
“I think I felt like last game in St. Louis as we probably deserved more and we didn’t want to come out of this game feeling like that either,” NCFC midfielder Ben Speas commented after the game.
The Dead Whales were chasing Nashville in the USL Championship Eastern Conference table, trailing them by two points when the two teams kicked off at a steamy Sahlen’s Stadium Saturday night.
It was North Carolina who looked like the more significant offensive threat when the game got underway. NCFC immediately got on the front foot and pressured Nashville’s midfield and defense. Three minutes into the match, defender D.J. Taylor carried the ball down the right side and cut toward the middle before launching a shot with his left foot that was deflected over the crossbar by Nashville goalkeeper Connor Sparrow.
They continued to press the visitors, earning five corner kicks in the first 25 minutes of the match. Defender Sam Brotherton nearly had the game’s opening goal in the 25th minute, but his point-blank header off of a Dre Fortune corner kick was parried over the bar by Sparrow.
North Carolina’s persistence paid off in the 30th minute when Speas buried the ball in the right corner of the net off of a nifty give-and-go with defender Aaron Guillen. NCFC was up 1-0.
“I’ve been pushing for Ben to be a little more aggressive in trying to be a little bit more of a have a killer instinct because he’s got the ability to do that,” Sarachan said after the game.
Speas is one of ten players for NCFC to score goals so far this season. Sarachan noted the importance of having so many players get involved on the scoresheet, particularly given the injuries they’ve dealt with thus far. “When we can spread the wealth a little bit it certainly A) takes a load off our number nine and that’s Donovan and B) it keeps teams on their toes.”
Nashville SC goalkeeper Connor Sparrow lifts defender Bradley Bourgeois off the turf after Bourgeois blocked a close-range shot by NCFC forward Donovan Ewolo.
Steven Miller looked to double the lead in the 36th minute when he got on the ball in Nashville’s final third and cut from left to right toward the goal. He called the corner pocket on his right-footed shot, but Sparrow dove to make the stop. However, Sparrow wasn’t able to hold onto the ball and NCFC forward Donovan Ewolo dribbled the ball away from Sparrow’s hands. Ewolo took a tight turn and fired at the goal, but his shot was blocked by Nashville defender Bradley Bourgeois. Halftime score remained 1-0.
Late in the first half, Nashville head coach Gary Smith made some tactical changes beginning with bringing Alan Winn on to replace Kosuke Kimura in midfield. Winn injected some energy immediately into the team, and Nashville appeared to get their feet under them as the whistle blew for halftime.
They carried that momentum into the second half and turned the pressure back on North Carolina. Winn was getting balls to Rios and Lancaster to create scoring opportunities, but their finish let them down.
Nashville head coach Gary Smith talked about his team’s second half improvement. “We showed a completely different side of ourselves. There was a renewed vigor and energy about our team and, you know, barring some better finishing we might’ve got something out of the game.”
Lancaster had one of the night’s best looks at goal for Nashville in the 51st minute when Darnell King whipped a cross into the North Carolina six-yard box, but Lancaster couldn’t get the right angle on his header and the ball sailed just over the crossbar. Three minutes later, Rios ran the ball down the right side and tried a near-post shot that hit the outside netting.
Sarachan had high praise for his club’s defensive effort in the second half. “I thought our back line outstanding. Our center backs had to deal with two very very good forwards who are a handful, but I thought collectively as a group we made it hard on them.”
“I think collectively everyone played really well defensively,” Speas echoed his coach. “We had a little bit of a switch up Alex [Comsia] got a head injury, and so and so Aaron slid in at center back. They did really well to adjust with what was thrown at us.”
Former NCFC and current Nashville SC striker Daniel Rios returned to Sahlen’s Stadium but was held scoreless.
The Dead Whales showed their tenacity in the second half, aggressively going after possession at midfield and limiting the amount of room Nashville’s potent front line had to work with.
Goalkeeper Alex Tambakis absorbed the Nashville shots that made it through his back line. He came up with a big save late in the game off of a free kick from Rios that was headed for the left corner. But when the final whistle sounded, North Carolina had their fifth clean sheet of the season, and NCFC leapfrogged Nashville into fourth place.
Final Notes
- Despite relatively clear skies over WakeMed Soccer Park, the start of the match was delayed by 45 minutes due to lightning in the area.
- North Carolina FC was playing short-handed. In addition to the loss of forward Marios Lomis, who had season-ending ankle surgery, defender Manny Perez, on loan from Celtic FC, was called into training camp with his home club. He is expected to return to Cary in early July. Defender Timmy Mehl was out with a foot contusion, and midfielder Nazmi Albadawi was excused from Saturday’s game for personal reasons.
- Austin Panchot earned his first start in midfield for North Carolina and made a good account of himself through 80 minutes of play.
- Early in the second half, NCFC’s depth was tested again when defender Alex Comsia took an elbow from Daniel Rios on a 50/50 ball and went down with a head injury. Sarachan indicated that he may not be available for Thursday’s match.
- Midfielder Austin da Luz made his first appearance for the Dead Whales after tending to a foot injury for the past month. He replaced Austin Panchot in the 80thminute.
- Saturday night’s tilt marked the first visit for forward Daniel Rios since he signed an MLS contract with Nashville. Rios was the leading scorer for NCFC in 2018, netting 20 goals.
- Next up for North Carolina FC is a Fourth of July Southern Derby match against intrastate rival Charlotte. After a dismal start to their season, the Independence made some personnel changes and have had a good run of form over the last few games.
Lineups
North Carolina FC: A. Tambakis; S. Brotherton, A. Comsia (C. Duvernay, 49’), D.J. Taylor, A. Guillen; D. Fortune, B. Speas; A. Panchot (A. Da Luz, 80’), G. Smith, S. Miller; D. Ewolo
Nashville SC: C. Sparrow; D. King, B. Bourgeois, L. Doyle, J. Davis; K. Kimura (A. Winn 39’), M. Reed ©, B. Akinyode, L. Moloto (K. Belmar, 70’); C. Lancaster (R. Mensah, 77’), D. Rios
Score:
North Carolina FC: 1
Nashville SC: 0
Goals:
NCFC: B. Speas (30’A. Guillen)
Nashville SC: none
Discipline
North Carolina FC: D.J. Taylor (YC, 90+1’)
Nashville SC: none
Attendance: 3,662
Photo gallery: North Carolina FC v Nashville SC
All photos by Victoria Klum
