LAS VEGAS — A barnburner broke out in Sin City late Saturday night as Lexington Sporting Club piled on five goals in a 5-3 victory over Las Vegas Lights FC. Spurred on by a brace from Nick Firmino, the win guarantees Lexington a home playoff match in the first round of the USL Championship playoffs and a top-four finish in the Western Conference.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair as Lexington scored, then promptly conceded an equalizer twice.
Marcus Epps found Xavier Zengue at the back post just four minutes into the match for an easy header to get the Greens on the board.
After a quick response by the home side with a goal of its own, an Aaron Molloy service from a corner kick took a deflection off a Vegas defender and was directed onto goal by Firmino to retake the lead.
Vegas would again even things up right before halftime, but Phillip Goodrum and Firmino combined for a no-doubt Goal of the Week finalist to kick-start the second period.
Braudílio Rodrigues charged down the middle of the pitch to put Vegas on its heels, then laid it off to Goodrum on the right. Goodrum waited for Firmino to make the underlapping run and perfectly timed a backheel pass into the Brazilian’s path. Firmino buried it to complete his second brace of the season and give LSC a 3-2 lead.
Blaine Ferri joined in on the scoring party in the 75’ minute off another corner kick that Aaron Molloy delivered into the mixer. The Vegas goalkeeper punched it clear, but only as far as Ferri, who was lurking right outside the penalty box to collect and fire.
The Lights added a third near the end of the match, but it was LSC’s Patrick Seagrist who had the last laugh with one final goal in the 90+2’ minute. The nail in Las Vegas’ coffin will forever be immortalized as the last goal scored in the history of Cashman Field.
“I’m really proud of the group,” said head coach Mac Hemmi after the match. “Whether you’re a professional manager or player or member of the coaching staff, you always want to be a positive part of club history. First, to be able to make the playoffs and two, to be able to host — I’m really proud of how the entire group approached this.”
The contest marked the second time this season Lexington has scored five goals or more and extended its unbeaten streak to six matches on the bounce with only one left to play in the regular season.
LSC now ranks second in the USL Championship with 54 goals scored, trailing only Charleston Battery by one. The club’s +18 goal differential is also the best mark in the Western Conference.
GOALS
4’ LEX: Xavier Zengue (assist: Marcus Epps)
25’ LV: Carson Locker
40’ LEX: Nick Firmino
45+2’ LV: Oalex Anderson (assist: Christian Pinzón)
62’ LEX: Nick Firmino (assist: Phillip Goodrum)
75’ LEX: Blaine Ferri
81’ LV: Patrick Leal (assist: Christian Pinzón)
90+2’ LEX: Patrick Seagrist (assist: Braudílio Rodrigues)
LINEUPS
LEX: Oliver Semmle, Jacob Greene, Marqes Muir, Kendall Burks, Xavier Zengue, Blaine Ferri (84’ Cielo Tschantret), Aaron Molloy, Nick Firmino (83’ Patrick Seagrist), Marcus Epps (90+2’ Milo Yosef), Malcolm Fry (45’ Braudílio Rodrigues), Phillip Goodrum
LV: Triston Henry, Themi Antonoglou (75’ Blake Pope), Aarón Guillén, Nate Jones, Nyk Sessock, Giorgio Probo, Carson Locker (84’ Abraham Okyere), Marc Ybarra (75’ Patrick Leal), Christian Pinzón, Oalex Anderson (45’ Manuel Arteaga), Johnny Rodriguez
UP NEXT
Lexington is off to Arizona to take on Phoenix Rising FC in the 2026 USL Championship regular season finale. The match kicks off at 10 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Golazo Network.
