CARY, N.C. (August 15, 2025) — North Carolina FC drew Detroit City FC, 1-1, Friday night in USL Championship play at First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park.
With the draw, NCFC is now 9W-7L-3D on the season and remains in third place in the Eastern Conference standings heading into the rest of the Week 24 slate.
Pedro Dolabella opened the scoring in the 23′, rifling a shot from outside the box into the bottom corner for his sixth goal of the season. Evan Conway picked up the assist, while a strong slide tackle from Mikey Maldonado and keen pressing from Bryce Washington kicked off the attacking play.
Darren Smith equalized for Detroit in the 62′, capitalizing on the breakaway after a defense-splitting pass from Kobe Hernandez-Foster.
Match Notes:
- Pedro Dolabella scored his sixth goal of the USL Championship season, bringing him level with Evan Conway for the team lead.
- Thomas Roberts made his NCFC and USL Championship debut in the match, subbing into the match in the 85′.
Quotes:
John Bradford on the match: “Disappointed not to get all three points. I thought we let ourselves down. It felt like the energy was there from the first whistle and then once we scored we took our foot off the gas and let a good team come back into it a little bit.”
John Bradford on Thomas Roberts’ debut: “Thomas is going to bring a lot of quality and you could see some energy straight away. He got an opportunity and almost put an assist in for a good chance right at the end. It was good to get him on the field.”
Pedro Dolabella on his connection with Evan Conway: “Evan is an incredible player. I am lucky to play with him. He have a good connection off the field too. He is a good friend of mine. We are getting to know each other more and more as the games goes and we play together.”
Louis Perez on the match: “It is a point. We were winning 1-0 and they tied the game in the second half, so we are disappointed but it is not the end of the world. We want to take points off playoff teams and teams we are battling with in the rankings.”
Up Next:
North Carolina FC travels out west to the Entertainment Capital of the World to face the Las Vegas Lights for a cross-conference battle on Saturday, August 23, at 10:30 p.m. ET at Cashman Field. NCFC has won three of its four matches against Western Conference opponents this season. The match will stream on ESPN+.
Box Score
NCFC (5-2-3): Jake McGuire; Patrick Burner, Triston Hodge, Finn Sundstrom (Paco Craig – 89′), Bryce Washington, Jaden Servania; Raheem Somersall, Mikey Maldonado; Louis Perez © (Thomas Roberts – 85′), Pedro Dolabella (Ahmad Al-Qaq – 80′), Evan Conway
Subs Not Used: Trevor Mulqueen, Akira Fitzgerald, Conor Donovan, Justin Malou, Jayson Quintanilla, Rodrigo Da Costa
DET (3-4-3): Carlos Saldaña; Devon Amoo-Mensah ©, Michael Bryant, Shane Wiedt (Haruki Yamazaki – 46′); Alex Villanueva (Sebastian Guenzatti – 87′), Abdoulaye Diop (Jeciel Cedeno – 62′), Kobe Hernández-Foster, Matt Sheldon; Jay Chapman (Ryan Williams – 46′), Ates Diouf (Jordan Adebayo-Smith – 68′), Darren Smith
Subs Not Used: Carlos Herrera, Dominico Gasso
Score:
NCFC: 1
DET: 1
Goals:
NCFC: P. Dolabella – 23′ (E. Conway)
DET: D. Smith – 62′ (K. Hernandez-Foster)
Cautions:
NCFC: P. Dolabella – 65′, L. Perez – 80′
DET: J. Cedeno– 90′ + 3′
Ejections:
NCFC: –
DET: –
Venue (Location): First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park (Cary, N.C.)
Attendance: 2,011
