CARY, N.C. (Oct. 23, 2019) – Despite goals from midfielders Nazmi Albadawi and Dre Fortune, North Carolina FC saw its season come to an end with a 3-2 loss to Birmingham Legion FC Wednesday night at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in the Play-In Round of the USL Championship Playoffs.
In the first season under head coach Dave Sarachan, NCFC went 16W-10L-8D in the regular season and finished in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, returning for the postseason for the second time in three years.
“We are gutted,” Sarachan said. “It was a good year. It could have been a better year. That is how it ends.”
On Wednesday, NCFC got off to a positive start offensively, one that was punctuated by Albadawi’s smooth, one-timed finish into the bottom left corner of the net in the 19th minute to give NCFC a 1-0 lead. Providing the assist on the goal was right back DJ Taylor, who made one of his several runs into the box from the right flank and set up Albadawi for the finish.
Taking advantage of a partially cleared set piece, Birmingham equalized in the 35th minute on a redirected shot by Femi Hollinger-Janzen. With Hollinger-Janzen’s goal, nothing separated the two teams as halftime approached.
Out of the break, NCFC started the second half similarly to how it did in the first and earned the better of the chances. A good stretch of play from the home team led to Fortune firing NCFC into the lead again in the 59th minute. Having received a pass from Albadawi, Fortune blasted his right-footed shot from beyond the 18-yard box past Birmingham goalkeeper Matt Van Oekel. With his assist on the goal, Albadawi is now NCFC’s all-time assists leader with 24 in his career with the club.
Birmingham once again brought the match even in the 66th minute, as Zachary Herivaux collected a rebound from a save by NCFC goalkeeper Alex Tambakis and was able to find the back of the net.
With a 2-2 scoreline, NCFC came tantalizingly close to grabbing a late lead in the 84th minute. Played in down the right flank by Fortune, second-half substitute Manny Perez centered a ball for fellow substitute Robert Kristo, who saw his shot roll just wide right as he collided with Van Oekel.
As the second half approached its ending, Birmingham snatched the game’s decisive goal three minutes into stoppage time, as JJ Williams broke the deadlock with a powerful strike.
Despite a fight to the finish, NCFC couldn’t find an equalizer before the referee blew his whistle for the final time.
Notes
– Nazmi Albadawi finished the season with four goals and five assists in 19 matches since returning to the club from FC Cincinnati in May.
– With his goal on Wednesday, midfielder Dre Fortune finished with eight goals against USL Championship opponents, the third-highest mark on NCFC.
– NCFC’s youth-to-pro pipeline was clearly evident on Wednesday as NCFC Academy products DJ Taylor and Dre Fortune were named in the starting lineup, as were former NCFC U23 standouts Nazmi Albadawi and Alex Comsia. Caleb Duvernay, who played for both the Academy and NCFC U-23, was named to the bench, as was former Academy star Manny Perez.
– Goalkeeper Alex Tambakis made five saves.
– Manny Perez, Robert Kristo and Donovan Ewolo appeared as second-half substitutes for NCFC.
Box Score:
NCFC (4-1-4-1): Alex Tambakis; Aaron Guillen, Sam Brotherton, Alex Comsia, DJ Taylor; Graham Smith (Donovan Ewolo, 90’); Ben Speas (Manny Perez, 66’), Nazmi Albadawi, Dre Fortune, Steven Miller ©; Marios Lomis (Robbie Kristo, 76’)
Subs not used: Victor Igbekoyi, Austin da Luz, Caleb Duvernay, Trace Alphin
BHM (4-5-1): Matt VanOekel; Kyle Fisher, Mikey Lopez ©, Akeem Ward, Femi Hollinger-Janzen; Anderson Asiedu, Prosper Kasim (Eric Avila, 90’), Daniel Johnson, JJ Williams, Zach Herivaux; Brian Wright
Subs not used: Trever Spangenberg, Ben Kucera, Kyle Culbertson, Marcos Ugarte, Daigo Kobayashi, Gael Mabiala
Score:
NCFC: 2
BHM: 3
Goals:
NCFC: Nazmi Albadawi 19’ (DJ Taylor), Dre Fortune 59’ (Nazmi Albadawi)
BHM: Femi Hollinger-Janzen 35’ (Prosper Kasim), Zach Herivaux 66’, JJ Williams 90’ (Zach Herivaux)
Cautions:
NCFC: Nazmi Albadawi 40’, Dre Fortune 61’
BHM: —
Ejections:
NCFC: —
BHM: —
Attendance: 3,675
CARY, N.C. (Oct. 23, 2019) – Despite goals from midfielders Nazmi Albadawi and Dre Fortune, North Carolina FC saw its season come to an end with a 3-2 loss to Birmingham Legion FC Wednesday night at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in the Play-In Round of the USL Championship Playoffs.
In the first season under head coach Dave Sarachan, NCFC went 16W-10L-8D in the regular season and finished in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, returning for the postseason for the second time in three years.
“We are gutted,” Sarachan said. “It was a good year. It could have been a better year. That is how it ends.”
On Wednesday, NCFC got off to a positive start offensively, one that was punctuated by Albadawi’s smooth, one-timed finish into the bottom left corner of the net in the 19th minute to give NCFC a 1-0 lead. Providing the assist on the goal was right back DJ Taylor, who made one of his several runs into the box from the right flank and set up Albadawi for the finish.
Taking advantage of a partially cleared set piece, Birmingham equalized in the 35th minute on a redirected shot by Femi Hollinger-Janzen. With Hollinger-Janzen’s goal, nothing separated the two teams as halftime approached.
Out of the break, NCFC started the second half similarly to how it did in the first and earned the better of the chances. A good stretch of play from the home team led to Fortune firing NCFC into the lead again in the 59th minute. Having received a pass from Albadawi, Fortune blasted his right-footed shot from beyond the 18-yard box past Birmingham goalkeeper Matt Van Oekel. With his assist on the goal, Albadawi is now NCFC’s all-time assists leader with 24 in his career with the club.
Birmingham once again brought the match even in the 66th minute, as Zachary Herivaux collected a rebound from a save by NCFC goalkeeper Alex Tambakis and was able to find the back of the net.
With a 2-2 scoreline, NCFC came tantalizingly close to grabbing a late lead in the 84th minute. Played in down the right flank by Fortune, second-half substitute Manny Perez centered a ball for fellow substitute Robert Kristo, who saw his shot roll just wide right as he collided with Van Oekel.
As the second half approached its ending, Birmingham snatched the game’s decisive goal three minutes into stoppage time, as JJ Williams broke the deadlock with a powerful strike.
Despite a fight to the finish, NCFC couldn’t find an equalizer before the referee blew his whistle for the final time.
Notes
– Nazmi Albadawi finished the season with four goals and five assists in 19 matches since returning to the club from FC Cincinnati in May.
– With his goal on Wednesday, midfielder Dre Fortune finished with eight goals against USL Championship opponents, the third-highest mark on NCFC.
– NCFC’s youth-to-pro pipeline was clearly evident on Wednesday as NCFC Academy products DJ Taylor and Dre Fortune were named in the starting lineup, as were former NCFC U23 standouts Nazmi Albadawi and Alex Comsia. Caleb Duvernay, who played for both the Academy and NCFC U-23, was named to the bench, as was former Academy star Manny Perez.
– Goalkeeper Alex Tambakis made five saves.
– Manny Perez, Robert Kristo and Donovan Ewolo appeared as second-half substitutes for NCFC.
Box Score:
NCFC (4-1-4-1): Alex Tambakis; Aaron Guillen, Sam Brotherton, Alex Comsia, DJ Taylor; Graham Smith (Donovan Ewolo, 90’); Ben Speas (Manny Perez, 66’), Nazmi Albadawi, Dre Fortune, Steven Miller ©; Marios Lomis (Robbie Kristo, 76’)
Subs not used: Victor Igbekoyi, Austin da Luz, Caleb Duvernay, Trace Alphin
BHM (4-5-1): Matt VanOekel; Kyle Fisher, Mikey Lopez ©, Akeem Ward, Femi Hollinger-Janzen; Anderson Asiedu, Prosper Kasim (Eric Avila, 90’), Daniel Johnson, JJ Williams, Zach Herivaux; Brian Wright
Subs not used: Trever Spangenberg, Ben Kucera, Kyle Culbertson, Marcos Ugarte, Daigo Kobayashi, Gael Mabiala
Score:
NCFC: 2
BHM: 3
Goals:
NCFC: Nazmi Albadawi 19’ (DJ Taylor), Dre Fortune 59’ (Nazmi Albadawi)
BHM: Femi Hollinger-Janzen 35’ (Prosper Kasim), Zach Herivaux 66’, JJ Williams 90’ (Zach Herivaux)
Cautions:
NCFC: Nazmi Albadawi 40’, Dre Fortune 61’
BHM: —
Ejections:
NCFC: —
BHM: —
Attendance: 3,675
