North Carolina FC Falls, 1-2, in Physical Battle vs. FC Tucson

CARY, NC (May 29, 2021) – North Carolina FC was unable to find the equalizer on Saturday night, as the home side fell short, 1-2, in a physical match against FC Tucson. Selmir Miščić tallied the lone goal for NCFC in the opening minutes of the match, with Jay Tee Kamara earning the assist. Aaron Messer and Parker O’Ferral made their 18-man roster debut in tonight’s game, each of whom are members of the NCFC Academy.

Getting things rolling for NCFC was Miščić, who received a pass from Kamara in the box following a missed block by the Tucson defense. Now at close range, Miščić cut the ball to his left foot, avoiding Tucson goalkeeper Wallis Lapsley, who abandoned his net in an attempt to make the save. Miščić tapped in an easy shot to the open net, scoring his second goal of the season and giving NCFC an early 1-0 lead in the 9th minute. Just two minutes later, Tucson added a goal of their own, finding the equalizer on a corner kick.

The match was briefly interrupted in the 43rd minute due to a weather delay, but the teams later returned to the pitch to finish out the remaining two minutes of the first half. Then in the 50th minute, Tucson forward Gio Calixtro slid a backheel pass to teammate Manu Ferriol in the NCFC box. Ferriol converted the scoring chance to give Tucson a 2-1 lead in the early minutes of the second half, leaving ample time for the home team to find an equalizer.

Despite a very physical, hard-fought finish, North Carolina FC was unable to find a game-tying goal as the final minutes ticked away. Between the two teams, five cards were administered — four yellow, one red — demanding composure from the young squad to finish out the contest.

“[The loss] is not what we wanted,” NCFC Head Coach John Bradford said. “We had a lot of positive moments in the match, but certainly can’t find success when we don’t maintain our focus for full games. Our group is going through a tough period right now, but we will all stick together and continue to improve.”

"It’s always very frustrating to not get a result especially at home," NCFC Captain Malick Mbaye said. "We were the better team on the ball, but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter if we have nothing to show for it. It is still early in the season and we know that if we continue to work hard, believe in each other, and stay united that the results will come very soon. That being said we have another opportunity next weekend to improve"

“I thought overall it was a good performance,” NCFC defender Nelson Flores said. “The match was full of possession. But we were very unlucky to not get a couple of goals. We will keep improving and getting better to try to make the fans happy and get the results we deserve. It’s only the beginning.”

NCFC will look to add their first win of the season as they remain at home to take on Fort Lauderdale CF on Saturday, June 5 at 7 p.m. ET.

Match Notes:

Aaron Messer and Parker O’Ferral made their 18-man roster debut in tonight’s contest.
Selmir Miščić added his second goal of the season.
Throughout the contest, North Carolina FC maintained 64% possession and 88% passing accuracy.

Next Match: North Carolina FC will remain at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park to face Fort Lauderdale CF on Saturday, June 5 at 7 p.m. ET.

Box Score:

NCFC (4-3-3): Jake McGuire, Nelson Flores, Max Flick, Malick Mbaye©, Nelson Martinez, Peter Pearson (Thorn Simpson — 70’), Pecka, Luis Arriaga, Selmir Miščić, Jay Tee Kamara, Josh Coan (Cole Frame — 78’)

Subs Not Used: Damian Las, Aaron Messer, Curtis De Leon, Parker O’Ferral, Collin McCamy

TUC (4-3-3): Wallis Lapsley, Dakota Barnathan, Jordan Pena, Kaelon Fox, Maxi Schenfeld, Danny Bedoya (Jared Odenbeck — 83’), Manu Ferriol (Kevin Rodriguez — 72’) , Noah Franke, Deri Corfe (Alex Knox — 83’) , Gio Calixtro (Franco Perez — 83’), Joao Delgado (Sam Biek — 83’)

Subs Not Used: Ryan Shellow, Luca Mastrantonio

Score:

NCFC: 1

TUC: 2

Goals:

NCFC: Selmir Miscic — 9’

TUC: Peter Pearson (OG) — 11’, Manu Ferriol — 50’

Cautions:

NCFC: Thorn Simpson — 71’

TUC: Danny Bedoya — 17’, Maxi Schenfeld — 37’, Manu Ferriol — 39’, Franco Perez — 86’, 90+4’

Ejections:

NCFC: —

TUC: Franco Perez — 90+4’

CARY, NC (May 29, 2021) – North Carolina FC was unable to find the equalizer on Saturday night, as the home side fell short, 1-2, in a physical match against FC Tucson. Selmir MišÄiÄ tallied the lone goal for NCFC in the opening minutes of the match, with Jay Tee Kamara earning the assist. Aaron Messer and Parker O’Ferral made their 18-man roster debut in tonight’s game, each of whom are members of the NCFC Academy.

Getting things rolling for NCFC was MišÄiÄ, who received a pass from Kamara in the box following a missed block by the Tucson defense. Now at close range, MišÄiÄ cut the ball to his left foot, avoiding Tucson goalkeeper Wallis Lapsley, who abandoned his net in an attempt to make the save. MišÄiÄ tapped in an easy shot to the open net, scoring his second goal of the season and giving NCFC an early 1-0 lead in the 9th minute. Just two minutes later, Tucson added a goal of their own, finding the equalizer on a corner kick.

“It’s always very frustrating to not get a result especially at home,” NCFC Captain Malick Mbaye said. “We were the better team on the ball, but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter if we have nothing to show for it. It is still early in the season and we know that if we continue to work hard, believe in each other, and stay united that the results will come very soon. That being said we have another opportunity next weekend to improve”