North Carolina FC Closes Out Busy Week With 2-0 Win Over Swope Park

Cary, NC—After a week that saw them hand the league-leading Tampa Bay Rowdies their first loss of the season, but then crash out of the U.S. Open Cup in a 4-0 shutout by New York City FC, North Carolina FC returned to the friendly confines of Sahlen’s Stadium Saturday night to take on Swope Park Rangers.

NCFC midfielder Nazmi Albadawi was welcomed home after a stint with FC Cincinnati.

With two straight USL Championship wins—both on the road—in their pocket, North Carolina looked to continue their good run of form against the young Rangers side.

It didn’t take long for North Carolina to take advantage of a mistake from the visiting team. Just six minutes after kickoff, NCFC forward Robert Kristo carried off an errant pass in the Rangers end of the field. Kristo took a couple of light touches with the ball before slipping a perfect ball into the path of Yamakani Chester, who buried the close-range shot.

NCFC homegrown player Dre Fortune celebrates after putting his team ahead 2-0.

Seven minutes later, Dre Fortune picked off another Swope Park pass at the top of the center circle. He ran the ball uncontested through the Rangers’ defense and found just enough space in the bottom right corner and before the crowd had finished their concession snacks the Dead Whales were up 2-0.

Whether it was hot weather or coming to the end of a busy week, NCFC let up a bit after jumping out to the lead. Swope Park got their feet under them but they couldn’t make good on any of their opportunities and went into halftime, generally pleased with their first half, but also wanting to get out of the 2-0 hole they were in.

“I feel that we’re we came out with the right game plan especially in the first half and we were able to control the game with possession,” said Swope Park head coach Paulo Nagamura. “But two early giveaways from the beginning cost us the game.”

Meanwhile, in the North Carolina locker room, head coach Dave Sarachan saw some tweaks that he wanted to make. “I thought after the second we let up a little bit and had to make a few adjustments at halftime just tactically in terms of dealing with a little bit of their movement,” he said in his post-match remarks.

Following the break, North Carolina nearly put the game completely out of reach for the visitors. Midfielder Victor Igbekoyi got his foot onto a pass between Swope Park players and tapped the ball to Kristo, who had built up a head of steam. Kristo launched a hard shot that Rangers’ goalkeeper Eric Dick appeared to get just enough of his arm on to deflect it off of the crossbar.

Saturday evening’s game was the first of a Pride Night doubleheader. The second game on the card featured the North Carolina Courage vs the Portland Thorns.

NCFC kept the pressure on through the second half but the Rangers defense withstood the forays through their end of the field including a goal-line clearance in the 80^thminute. The chance started with NCFC forward Donovan Ewolo (who came on for Kristo in the 67^thminute) stealing the ball just inside Swope Park’s end of the field. Ewolo turned on the jets and carried the ball through a wide open field, setting up his shot about eight yards out from goal. Dick had come out to challenge the shot and made the initial save but the rebound came right back to Ewolo’s left foot. His second shot was kicked off of the goal line by Rangers defender Graham Smith. Swope Park was unable to send the ball to safety, leaving a loose ball for Steven Miller just outside the Rangers’ 18-yard box. Miller tapped the ball to Fortune but Dick made another great save to keep his team in the game.

At the final whistle, North Carolina FC had another three points, putting them squarely in the playoff mix.

Final Notes

Dre Fortune’s two-goal performance at Tampa Bay earned him the USL Championship Player of the Week. Fortune recognized that his production is a function of the team working well together. “Anybody can step up at any moment and make a difference for us. And just happy that it was me last week and we’re just gonna continue to keep going and maybe someone else [will]next week and you know go from there,” he said after the game.
North Carolina FC forward Marios Lomis underwent successful surgery to repair a broken ankle last week. He is not expected to play again this season.
With the absence of Lomis, who looked on his way to a breakout season, head coach Dave Sarachan is looking for scoring support from players like Yamakani Chester and Donovan Ewolo, but he isn’t ruling out looking for a scorer on the market.
NCFC’s run of form has them in the thick of the USL Championship Eastern Conference playoff hunt. Undefeated in their last five games, the Dead Whales moved into fifth place.
Next up for North Carolina is their first visit to St. Louis on June 22^nd. They return to WakeMed Soccer Park for a July 4^thSouthern Derby match against intra-state rival Charlotte Independence.

Lineups

North Carolina FC: D. McLeod; A. Guillen, C. Duvernay, A. Comsia, DJ Taylor; N. Albadawi, V. Igbekoyi; B. Speas ©, D. Fortune (A. Panchot, 87’), Y. Chester (S. Miller, 71’); R. Kristo (D. Ewolo, 67’)

Swope Park Rangers: E. Dick; M. Segbers, C. Riley, G. Smith ©, Alexsander; Kuzain (T. Freeman, 71’), G. Busio, F. Hernandez, A. Allach; E. Vanacore-Decker (W. Harris, 78’), K. Colombe (J. Ngom Bekeli, 58’)

Score:
North Carolina FC: 2
Swope Park Rangers: 0

Goals:
NCFC: Y. Chester (6’, R. Kristo); D. Fortune (13’, unassisted)
Swope Park Rangers: none

Discipline
North Carolina FC: Y. Chester, YC, 28’; A. Guillen, YC, 50’
Swope Park Rangers: Alexsander, YC, 63’

Attendance: 6,172

North Carolina FC vs Swope Park Rangers, June 15, 2019

All photos by Victoria Klum