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USL1 North Carolina FC

North Carolina FC Plays to 1-1 Draw with Union Omaha

September 29, 2023 - United Soccer League One (USL1)
North Carolina FC News Release


CARY, N.C. - North Carolina FC played to a hard fought 1-1 draw with Union Omaha Friday night at WakeMed Soccer Park. The top-of-the-table match-up was toe-to-toe and saw North Carolina FC set a club record for points in a single season as they hit 57, remaining atop USL League One with two matches remaining.

North Carolina struck just shy of the quarter-hour mark when a ping-pong ball found the feet of Rafa, who struck inside the near post to put the hosts in front. Omaha found the equalizer at the 40' on a one-time strike by Luis Gil into corner netting to draw even.

Both teams probed in the second period, but neither could be overly dangerous as the top two teams in the league settled for a point a piece.

Quoting NCFC

Head Coach John Bradford

Tonight was an intense game and probably what you'd expect from a matchup like this at this point in the season. I'm proud of our guys for fighting through some disappointing moments here and there, but the guys competed.

"Rahim has been a leader, to me, since he's been with the club. He's always been leading by example and by his words as well. So it's natural for him to take on the captain armband tonight with Garrett out. Garrett and Daniel are both incredibly important to have around and they are vocal leaders, but it also has an extra boost for Raheem to have him wear the band and lead the group."

Forward Rafa Mentzingen

"Tonight was a great game. Probably the most intense game that we've played so far this season between two very good teams. They had a game plan they executed well. We had chances, they had a few, so overall it was a good back-and-forth game.

Match Notes

North Carolina FC and Union Omaha split their season series 1-1-1

North Carolina FC has two regular season matches remaining

Next Match: North Carolina FC makes their final road trip of the season as they visit Lexington SC on Saturday, October 7, for a 7:00 p.m. ET kickoff at Toyota Stadium at Georgetown College.

Box Score:

NCFC (4-3-3): Brooks Thompson, Nelson Blanco, Gustavo Fernandes, David Garcia, Christian Lue Young, Rafael Mentzingen (DJ Benton - 86'), Raheem Somersall ©, Michael Maldonado, Louis Perez, Jaden Servania (Luis Arriaga - 80'), Oalex Anderson (Nathan Ntalu - 80')

Subs Not Used: Tor Saunders, Max Flick, Marvin Mariche, Preston Popp

OMA (4-4-2): Rashid Nuhu, Shaft Brewer Jr., Marco Milanese, Alexis Souahy, Dion Acoff, Pedro Dolabella, John Scearce ©, Joe Brito, Luis Gil (Lagos Kunga - 65'), Joe Gallardo (Noe Meza - 65'), Steevan dos Santos

Subs Not Used: Ian McGrane, Luca Mastrantonio, Chavany Willis, Eddie Gordon, Alex Steinwascher

Score:

NCFC: 1

OMA: 1

Goals:

NCFC: Rafa - 14'

OMA: L. Gil - 40' (Dos Santos)

Cautions:

NCFC: D. Garcia - 26'

OMA: N. Meza - 77'

Ejections:

NCFC:

OMA: -

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United Soccer League One Stories from September 29, 2023


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.

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