CARY, N.C. (Sep. 2, 2017) – North Carolina FC (7W-8D-8L; 28 points) earned a valuable point in the standings on Saturday night at Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park as the club played to a 1-1 draw against Edmonton FC (6W-4D-12L; 21 points).
North Carolina broke out with a 1-0 lead early in the first half with a 4th minute header from Christian Ibeagha. The defender found Lance Laing’s corner out in front of the net to swiftly put the ball past Eddies goalkeeper Tyson Farago.
As Edmonton continued to get a feel for NCFC, the home club had another opportunity – this time a chance from Dre Fortune. In the 15th minute, the Raleigh product fired a shot from outside the box after finding the ball from James Marcelin.
North Carolina continued with an onslaught of opportunities and nearly added to their lead in the 34thminute, as Nazmi Albadawi connected with Laing, but Farago came up with the stop on the Jamaican midfielder’s shot.
Ultimately, NCFC brought the 1-0 lead into halftime, as Brian Sylvestre remained staunch in net, denying Edmonton of two opportunities in the waning minutes of the first half.
Back from intermission, North Carolina continued to apply pressure as the club looked to add onto Ibeagha’s goal. The first look came in the 50th minute, as Renan Gorne’s rocket of a shot sailed too high.
Though NCFC continued to attack, the game became equal in the 70th minute when Sylvestre mishandled a ball that found its way just barely over the goal line. NCFC countered one minute later with a shot from the captain, but Albadawi’s effort veered left of the net.
Despite the efforts of both clubs in the remaining time, neither found the back of the net, resulting in one point added to the standings for both North Carolina and Edmonton.
"We're still in there fighting, there's still a long way to go and a lot of points to play for," said head coach Colin Clarke. "We'll go out next weekend and look to get three points. We've been on the road in Miami and gotten three, we've been to San Francisco and got one, so we've been picking up points on the road. We've only been beaten once in the past seven games. I'd love to be here picking three points up every game."
Coming Up Next: North Carolina FC will next travel to Edmonton to face the Eddies for a second match on Sep. 10 at 4:00 p.m. ET at Clarke Stadium. The club will then stay on the road for a Wednesday, Sep. 13 match against the Indy Eleven, but will be back at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park on Sep. 16 to play Puerto Rico FC at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available online at NCFCTix.com or over the phone by calling the North Carolina Football Club ticket office at 919-459-8144.
Notes:
– Christian Ibeagha scored his 2nd goal of the Fall Season.
– Lance Laing picked up his 4th assist of the year
Lineups
NCFC: Brian Sylvestre; Paul Black, Christian Ibeagha, Connor Tobin, Steven Miller; Lance Laing (Jonathan Glenn, 84th), Dre Fortune (Marcel Kandziora, 72’), James Marcelin, Nazmi Albadawi ©, Tiyi Shipalane (Jose Carranza, 71’); Renan Gorne
Subs not used: Macklin Robinson, Kareem Moses, Austin da Luz, Alex Molano
FCE: Tyson Farago; Shawn Nicklaw (Nicolas Di Biase, 58’), Abdoulaye Diakite, Pedro Galvao, Netan Sansara; Allan Zebie, Ben McKendry, Ben Fisk (Sainey Nyassi, 78’), Dustin Correa; Tomi Ameobi ©, Jake Keegan (Daryl Fordyce, 65’)
Subs not used: Chris Konopka, Mauro Eustaquio
Score:
NCFC: 1
FCE: 1
Goals:
NCFC: Christian Ibeagha (Lance Laing, 4’)
FCE: Brian Sylvestre (o.g. 70’)
Cautions:
NCFC: —
FCE: —
Ejections:
NCFC: —
FCE: —
Attendance: 3,388
CARY, N.C. (Sep. 2, 2017) – North Carolina FC (7W-8D-8L; 28 points) earned a valuable point in the standings on Saturday night at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park as the club played to a 1-1 draw against Edmonton FC (6W-4D-12L; 21 points).
North Carolina broke out with a 1-0 lead early in the first half with a 4th minute header from Christian Ibeagha. The defender found Lance Laing’s corner out in front of the net to swiftly put the ball past Eddies goalkeeper Tyson Farago.
As Edmonton continued to get a feel for NCFC, the home club had another opportunity – this time a chance from Dre Fortune. In the 15th minute, the Raleigh product fired a shot from outside the box after finding the ball from James Marcelin.
North Carolina continued with an onslaught of opportunities and nearly added to their lead in the 34thminute, as Nazmi Albadawi connected with Laing, but Farago came up with the stop on the Jamaican midfielder’s shot.
Ultimately, NCFC brought the 1-0 lead into halftime, as Brian Sylvestre remained staunch in net, denying Edmonton of two opportunities in the waning minutes of the first half.
Back from intermission, North Carolina continued to apply pressure as the club looked to add onto Ibeagha’s goal. The first look came in the 50th minute, as Renan Gorne’s rocket of a shot sailed too high.
Though NCFC continued to attack, the game became equal in the 70th minute when Sylvestre mishandled a ball that found its way just barely over the goal line. NCFC countered one minute later with a shot from the captain, but Albadawi’s effort veered left of the net.
Despite the efforts of both clubs in the remaining time, neither found the back of the net, resulting in one point added to the standings for both North Carolina and Edmonton.
“We’re still in there fighting, there’s still a long way to go and a lot of points to play for,” said head coach Colin Clarke. “We’ll go out next weekend and look to get three points. We’ve been on the road in Miami and gotten three, we’ve been to San Francisco and got one, so we’ve been picking up points on the road. We’ve only been beaten once in the past seven games. I’d love to be here picking three points up every game.”
Coming Up Next: North Carolina FC will next travel to Edmonton to face the Eddies for a second match on Sep. 10 at 4:00 p.m. ET at Clarke Stadium. The club will then stay on the road for a Wednesday, Sep. 13 match against the Indy Eleven, but will be back at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park on Sep. 16 to play Puerto Rico FC at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available online at NCFCTix.com or over the phone by calling the North Carolina Football Club ticket office at 919-459-8144.
Notes:
– Christian Ibeagha scored his 2nd goal of the Fall Season.
– Lance Laing picked up his 4th assist of the year
Lineups
NCFC: Brian Sylvestre; Paul Black, Christian Ibeagha, Connor Tobin, Steven Miller; Lance Laing (Jonathan Glenn, 84th), Dre Fortune (Marcel Kandziora, 72’), James Marcelin, Nazmi Albadawi ©, Tiyi Shipalane (Jose Carranza, 71’); Renan Gorne
Subs not used: Macklin Robinson, Kareem Moses, Austin da Luz, Alex Molano
FCE: Tyson Farago; Shawn Nicklaw (Nicolas Di Biase, 58’), Abdoulaye Diakite, Pedro Galvao, Netan Sansara; Allan Zebie, Ben McKendry, Ben Fisk (Sainey Nyassi, 78’), Dustin Correa; Tomi Ameobi ©, Jake Keegan (Daryl Fordyce, 65’)
Subs not used: Chris Konopka, Mauro Eustaquio
Score:
NCFC: 1
FCE: 1
Goals:
NCFC: Christian Ibeagha (Lance Laing, 4’)
FCE: Brian Sylvestre (o.g. 70’)
Cautions:
NCFC: —
FCE: —
Ejections:
NCFC: —
FCE: —
Attendance: 3,388
