Late comeback falls short Friday night in home loss
USL North Carolina FC

Late comeback falls short Friday night in home loss

July 11, 2025 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
North Carolina FC News Release


Pedro Dolabella of North Carolina FC
Pedro Dolabella of North Carolina FC
(North Carolina FC)

CARY, N.C. - North Carolina FC fell to Birmingham Legion FC, 2-3, Friday night at First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park. The result keeps NCFC on 23 points from 15 matches this season and they remain fourth in the USL Championship Eastern Conference standings.

The teams traded probes and half-chances for much of the first half before each landing a blow before the break. North Carolina FC struck first, with Rafa Mentzingen chipping through Pedro Dolabella up the right wing, who calmly lofted a finish over the keeper for the lead. It was Dolabella's fourth goal of the season and he did it with his father in the stands watching him play in North Carolina for the first time.

Birmingham answered in the 45' when Enzo Martinez recovered the ball deep in NCFC territory and forced a scramble along the backline, then slid the ball to Ronaldo Damus for the finish. Birmingham added two in the first 20 minutes of the second half to take a 3-1 lead.

North Carolina continued to battle, getting a late goal from Evan Conway on an Adam Luckhurst assist to pull within a goal, but there was not enough time to mount another attack as the final whistle blew.

Match Notes:

NCFC entered the night on a four-match unbeaten streak against Birmingham Legion in USL Championship play.

North Carolina FC has scored in 15 consecutive USL Championship home matches.

North Carolina have scored nine goals in the last 15 minutes of the first half, more than any other team in the USL Championship this season.

Up Next:

North Carolina FC remains on home turf to host Indy Eleven at First Horizon Stadium on Friday, July 18. The match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET. Tickets are available at tickets.northcarolinafc.com.

Box Score

NCFC (5-2-3): Jake McGuire, Finn Sundstrom, Paco Craig (C), Bryce Washington, Patrick Burner, Mikey Maldonado, Collin Martin (Louis Perez - 70'), Rafa Mentzingen (Jaden Servania - 90+7'), Ahmad Al-Qaq (Evan Conway - 70'), Pedro Dolabella (Rodriga Da Costa - 80'), Oalex Anderson (Adam Luckhurst - 80')

Subs Not Used: Conor Donovan, Trevor Mulqueen, Raheem Somersall

BHM (4-4-2): Fernando Delgado, AJ Paterson (Samuel McIllhatton - 81'), Jake Rufe, Santiago Suárez, Moses Mensah, Stephen Turnbull (Erik Centeno - 81'), Danny Trejo (Sebastian Tregarthen - 87'), Edwin Laszo, Enzo Martínez (Roman Torres - 90+8'), Tyler Pasher (C), Ronaldo Damus (Tabort Etaka Preston - 87')

Subs Not Used: Matt Vanoekel, Kobe Hernandez Foster

Score:

NCFC: 2

BHM: 3

Goals:

NCFC: P. Dolabella - 40' (Rafa); E. Conway - 90+9' (Luckhurst)

BHM: R. Damus - 45' (Martinez); D. Trejo - 56' (Pasher), 63' (Damus)

Cautions:

NCFC: C. Martin - 59'; P. Craig - 85'; E. Conway - 90+3'

BHM: S. Turnbull - 4'; E. Martinez - 48'; J. Rufe - 50'

Ejections:

NCFC: -

BHM: -

Venue (Location): First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park (Cary, N.C.)

Referee: Thomas Synder

Attendance: 2,269

Check out the North Carolina FC Statistics




Images from this story

Pedro Dolabella of North Carolina FC
Pedro Dolabella of North Carolina FC
   



United Soccer League Championship Stories from July 11, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central