CARY, N.C. (Aug. 26, 2017) – On a beautiful Saturday night at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park, North Carolina FC drew 2-2 with the New York Cosmos in come-from-behind fashion.
NCFC trailed 2-1 with 19 minutes left in the contest, but a 90th-minute equalizer from Renan Gorne saved a point for NCFC to keep the club firmly in the NASL playoff race.
“It was a good game between two good teams,” said NCFC Head Coach Colin Clarke. “We’re disappointed not to get the result we were looking for. I thought we deserved it with the overall balance of play, but I’m pleased with the way we played. I think that’s the best we’ve played for quite a while.”
The home team put together a dominating first half. North Carolina outshot New York 5-0, while putting two shots on goal. In the 25th minute, Paul Black’s cross found Tiyi Shipalane behind the defense, but Jimmy Maurer did well to block the shot with his foot. Steven Miller also forced a save from Maurer in the 40thminute, while Lance Laing nearly connected with a cross from Shipalane in stoppage time of the first half.
Following the restart, Nazmi Albadawi buried the game’s first goal less than a minute into the second half. Albadawi connected with fellow Raleigh native Dre Fortune who provided the assist. The goal was Albadawi’s second of the year, while Fortune collected his first assist of the season.
NCFC nearly tallied a pair of goals just 10 minutes later when Fortune almost caught Maurer off his line. However, the goalkeeper made a diving save to keep the Cosmos in the game. Just a minute later, Maurer came up big again, making another diving save on a shot from Miller.
Despite the increased attacking pressure, NCFC would fall behind when New York tallied goals in the 59thand 71st minutes against the run of play. Andres Flores struck first off an assist from Ayoze. Just 12 minutes later, the Cosmos would take the lead after Eugene Starikov scored unassisted.
With time winding down, NCFC poured numbers forward in hopes of a goal. Gorne made the most of his first home start and buried the equalizer in the 90th minute. The Brazilian found himself in the right place at the right time following a mishandled save from Maurer. The forward added a cool finish from close range for the first goal of his NCFC career, bringing the match to its final score of 2-2.
Coming Up Next:
North Carolina FC will remain at home for another week as it takes on FC Edmonton on Saturday, Sep. 2 at 7:30 p.m. at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park. The match will be presented by WakeMed Health and Hospitals. 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:
- Nazmi Albadawi made his 100th NASL appearance today, and scored his second goal of the season.
- Renan Gorne earned the second start of his NCFC career, and scored his first goal for the club.
- North Carolina FC has now drawn 2-2 in its last two matches against the Cosmos.
Lineups
NCFC: Brian Sylvestre; Paul Black, Christian Ibeagha, Connor Tobin, Steven Miller; Lance Laing (Jon Orlando 80’), Dre Fortune (Alex Molano 80’), James Marcelin, Nazmi Albadawi ©, Tiyi Shipalane (Matt Fondy 89’); Renan Gorne
Subs not used: Macklin Robinson, Kareem Moses, Austin da Luz, Marcel Kandziora
NYC: Jimmy Maurer; Ryan Richter, Carlos Mendes ©, Ayoze, Darrius Barnes; Javi Marquez (Danny Szetela 90’), Andres Flores, Juan Guerra, Emmanuel Ledesma (Kobi Moyal 82’), Jimmy Mulligan; Pablo Vranjican (Eugene Starikov 60’)
Subs not used: Dejan Jakovic, Kyle Zobeck, Eric Calvillo, Lucky Mkosana
Score:
NCFC: 2
NYC: 2
Goals:
NCFC: Albadawi (Fortune 46’), Gorne (Unassisted 90+’)
NYC: Flores (Ayoze 59’), Starikov (Unassisted 71’)
Cautions:
NCFC: Nazmi Albadawi 45’, Alex Molano 86’
NYC: Pablo Vranjican 19’, Danny Szetela 90+’, Ryan Richter 90+’
Ejections:
NCFC: —
NYC: —
Attendance: 4,205
CARY, N.C. (Aug. 26, 2017) – On a beautiful Saturday night at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park, North Carolina FC drew 2-2 with the New York Cosmos in come-from-behind fashion.
NCFC trailed 2-1 with 19 minutes left in the contest, but a 90th-minute equalizer from Renan Gorne saved a point for NCFC to keep the club firmly in the NASL playoff race.
“It was a good game between two good teams,” said NCFC Head Coach Colin Clarke. “We’re disappointed not to get the result we were looking for. I thought we deserved it with the overall balance of play, but I’m pleased with the way we played. I think that’s the best we’ve played for quite a while.”
The home team put together a dominating first half. North Carolina outshot New York 5-0, while putting two shots on goal. In the 25th minute, Paul Black’s cross found Tiyi Shipalane behind the defense, but Jimmy Maurer did well to block the shot with his foot. Steven Miller also forced a save from Maurer in the 40thminute, while Lance Laing nearly connected with a cross from Shipalane in stoppage time of the first half.
Following the restart, Nazmi Albadawi buried the game’s first goal less than a minute into the second half. Albadawi connected with fellow Raleigh native Dre Fortune who provided the assist. The goal was Albadawi’s second of the year, while Fortune collected his first assist of the season.
NCFC nearly tallied a pair of goals just 10 minutes later when Fortune almost caught Maurer off his line. However, the goalkeeper made a diving save to keep the Cosmos in the game. Just a minute later, Maurer came up big again, making another diving save on a shot from Miller.
Despite the increased attacking pressure, NCFC would fall behind when New York tallied goals in the 59thand 71st minutes against the run of play. Andres Flores struck first off an assist from Ayoze. Just 12 minutes later, the Cosmos would take the lead after Eugene Starikov scored unassisted.
With time winding down, NCFC poured numbers forward in hopes of a goal. Gorne made the most of his first home start and buried the equalizer in the 90th minute. The Brazilian found himself in the right place at the right time following a mishandled save from Maurer. The forward added a cool finish from close range for the first goal of his NCFC career, bringing the match to its final score of 2-2.
Coming Up Next:
North Carolina FC will remain at home for another week as it takes on FC Edmonton on Saturday, Sep. 2 at 7:30 p.m. at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park. The match will be presented by WakeMed Health and Hospitals. 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:
- Nazmi Albadawi made his 100th NASL appearance today, and scored his second goal of the season.
- Renan Gorne earned the second start of his NCFC career, and scored his first goal for the club.
- North Carolina FC has now drawn 2-2 in its last two matches against the Cosmos.
Lineups
NCFC: Brian Sylvestre; Paul Black, Christian Ibeagha, Connor Tobin, Steven Miller; Lance Laing (Jon Orlando 80’), Dre Fortune (Alex Molano 80’), James Marcelin, Nazmi Albadawi ©, Tiyi Shipalane (Matt Fondy 89’); Renan Gorne
Subs not used: Macklin Robinson, Kareem Moses, Austin da Luz, Marcel Kandziora
NYC: Jimmy Maurer; Ryan Richter, Carlos Mendes ©, Ayoze, Darrius Barnes; Javi Marquez (Danny Szetela 90’), Andres Flores, Juan Guerra, Emmanuel Ledesma (Kobi Moyal 82’), Jimmy Mulligan; Pablo Vranjican (Eugene Starikov 60’)
Subs not used: Dejan Jakovic, Kyle Zobeck, Eric Calvillo, Lucky Mkosana
Score:
NCFC: 2
NYC: 2
Goals:
NCFC: Albadawi (Fortune 46’), Gorne (Unassisted 90+’)
NYC: Flores (Ayoze 59’), Starikov (Unassisted 71’)
Cautions:
NCFC: Nazmi Albadawi 45’, Alex Molano 86’
NYC: Pablo Vranjican 19’, Danny Szetela 90+’, Ryan Richter 90+’
Ejections:
NCFC: —
NYC: —
Attendance: 4,205
