Promising Season Ends in Stoppage Time Heartbreak for North Carolina FC

North Carolina FC 2 – 3 Birmingham Legion FC

Cary, NC—“It was a good year: it could have been a better year. That’s how it just ends. It’s over.”

Despite leading twice in the game, a stoppage time goal from J.J. Williams ended North Carolina FC’s season.

Through much of the first half it was the home team who had the better of the chances. Birmingham conceded four corner kicks in five minutes with NCFC getting good looks at goal from the set plays.

Finally, in the 19^th minute, North Carolina broke through on a gorgeous combination play that started with Aaron Guillen pushing a pass to Dre Fortune who dummied the ball to Marios Lomis. Lomis worked through the defense and sent the ball out to Steven Miller who found D.J. Taylor making an overlapping run along the edge of the 18-yard box. Taylor looked up and caught Nazmi Albadawi all alone ten yards in front of the goal and flipped the ball to him. Albadawi calmly directed the ball past goalkeeper Matt Van Oekel to get the home team on the board.

But Birmingham would level the game ten minutes before halftime off of a set piece. Daniel Johnson lofted a free kick to the far post but was headed back toward Prosper Kasim. He wound up and fired a hard shot toward the goal. Femi Hollinger-Janzen was camped out in front of the net and redirected Kasim’s shot past Alex Tambakis for the equalizer.

Going into the halftime break, Dave Sarachan’s team felt good that they were creating chances, while Tom Soehn’s Birmingham squad was happy to be level.

North Carolina would regain the lead in the 59^th minute when Albadawi and Fortune played the ball back and forth to each other. After getting the ball back from Albadawi, Fortune hit the top left corner of the net from the arc at the top of the penalty area.

For a club that has had difficulty scoring throughout the season, Birmingham was a club that North Carolina FC should be able to beat, but, with a tie and a loss, NCFC was never really able to shake them off in 2019.  Once again, the Oak City Supporters and Renegados celebration would be short-lived.

Soehn talked about exploiting some of the openings they found through the North Carolina midfield. “We kind of talked about at halftime where we felt that they were opening up and that was one of the areas that we felt like we could penetrate, so part of that was them trying to win the game as well.”

It took Birmingham just six minutes to square the game again. Akeem Ward fired a shot on goal from about 20 yards out but a diving Tambakis was able to parry the shot away. Zachary Herivaux shook off his defender and ran onto the rebound, easily putting it past the North Carolina goalkeeper.

The game opened up more with both sides pressing for a game winner and it looked like Robert Kristo would provide late game magic once more when Manny Perez sent a centering pass to him right on the doorstep. He managed to get a good shot off just as he collided with Van Oekel but had to watch from the turf as the ball rolled wide.

With the officials adding three minutes of stoppage time, Birmingham continued their second half press through North Carolina’s end of the field. They would outshoot NCFC 19-14 with eight of their shots on goal. With just a few seconds left in stoppage time, the Legion’s J.J. Williams had possession of the ball at the top of the 18-yard box. He took a few steps to clear some space for himself and then uncorked a stunner to send the Legion to Pittsburgh, while ending North Carolina’s season.

“I don’t think Alex [Tambakis] can do anything on the goal,” Sarachan noted in his post-game remarks. “I think it was disappointing that we didn’t get a number of guys around J.J. Williams, to make it a little harder on him. And, you know, it’s the way soccer goes.”

With a quick turnaround facing the Pittsburgh Riverhounds this weekend, Soehn was thankful that he was able to rest most of his starting eleven last weekend. “We were fortunate we didn’t have to play a lot of our guys on Sunday—with help from Carolina, which is kind of a strange story—but now we have to turn around and get our guys rested. We didn’t make any subs, so we’ll think about what best suits us and get some fresh guys, and we’ll put together a game plan against another team that’s really organized and well-coached, so we’ll have our hands full.”

Final Notes

• Dave Sarachan noted in his post-game remarks that fatigue may have been a bigger factor in his club’s inability to shut down Birmingham. “Graham and Dre played a full shift on Saturday…and now it’s a quick turnaround. [Birmingham] rested almost all of their starting team over the weekend, so I think fatigue hit us. I do. I think fatigue hit us, and when that happens a couple of things happen. You start dropping deeper, you’re not as efficient when you do get the ball at your feet, and I think that was a product of fatigue.”
• With the retirement of Austin da Luz and the status of several players on loan to NCFC up in the air, there will undoubtedly be a different look to North Carolina FC in 2020.
• Sarachan wrapped up his assessment of his squad, saying it was an honest team whose competitiveness he never doubted. “We had a good group of guys that gave me everything every day in training and in the games.”
• Midfielder Nazmi Albadawi, who rejoined the club at mid-season, after a stint with FC Cincinnati, gave his impressions of his team. “It was a fantastic group to work with. It’s a young group that’s hungry to get better, a young group that’s looking to improve…It’s probably one of the few times I was one of the older guys on the team which I really enjoyed that experience and trying to help the younger guys come along and learn as well. We have a very bright future. We have some very talented players. We’ll see what happens with the roster for next year, but I’m really looking forward to seeing who sticks around and see what we can do.”

Lineups

North Carolina FC: A. Tambakis; A. Guillen, S. Brotherton, A. Comsia, D.J. Taylor; G. Smith (D. Ewolo 90’), B. Speas (M. Perez, 66’), N. Albadawi, D. Fortune, S. Miller ©; M. Lomis (R. Kristo, 76’)

Birmingham Legion FC: M. Van Oekel; K. Fisher, M. Lopez ©, A. Ward, F. Hollinger-Janzen; A. Asiedu, P. Kasim (E. Avila, 90’), D. Johnson, J.J. Williams, Z. Herivaux; B. Wright

Score:
North Carolina FC: 2
Birmingham Legion FC: 3

Goals:
North Carolina FC: N. Albadawi (19’ DJ Taylor); D. Fortune (59’ N. Albadawi)
Birmingham Legion FC: F. Hollinger-Janzen (35’ P. Kasim); Z. Herivaux (66’ unassisted); JJ Williams (90+3, Z. Herivaux)

Discipline
North Carolina FC: N. Albadawi, YC 40’; D. Fortune, YC 61’
Birmingham Legion FC: none

Attendance: 3,675

Photo Gallery: North Carolina FC v Birmingham Legion FC

All photos by Victoria Klum.