Lexington Sporting Club came up just short at home against Tormenta FC in USL League One play at Toyota Stadium on Saturday, suffering a second consecutive home defeat in league play.
Entering the competition after a tough loss against Union Omaha, the Boys in Green were eager to turn their fortunes around and get back on the right track in front of the home faithful.
They were seemingly on track to do just that, putting up scoring chance after scoring chance in a thrilling first half of play, with Nico Brown nearly having two goals to open the scoring if it wasn’t for Tormenta goalkeeper Drew Romig.
“Sometimes in the office there’s just some unfortunate days,” Brown said. “We work all week on finishing our chances and trying to be proficient in front of goal. I tried my best, but unfortunately the goalie was able to make some remarkable saves tonight. But, I can promise you guys I’m going to be back on the training pitch putting in the work this week and trying to improve. I know what I can do in front of goal, so just gotta get it next time.”
Despite the unsuccessful scoring chances, which would ultimately come back to bite the Greens, LSC would not be kept off the score sheet in the first half thanks to 2023 USL League One Team of the Season member Ates Diouf, who fired in a beautiful strike in stoppage time for a 1-0 score at the break.
“(I told them) to keep doing what we were doing,” Lexington head coach Darren Powell said of his message to the team at halftime. “There were some moments where we should have capitalized more often, basically. I think that’s the tale of the game, when you look at it, when you keep a team hanging around they get too many chances. They certainly capitalized.”
Coming back out for the second half, it was clear Tormenta was motivated and eager to end what had been a run of poor form for the 2022 USL League One champions.
Unfortunately for the home fans, Tormenta’s eagerness paid off in the 66th minute when it was able to find an equalizer.
Not satisfied, the visitors found a game winner in the 87th. Lexington continued to battle and fight through stoppage time, but a second goal ultimately wasn’t in the cards as the final whistle brought the 2-1 final.
“It’s tough,” Diouf said. “Especially in the first half I think we had so many chances we could have put the game to bed. I think we had like three more that the goalie made good saves (on). We feel like if we could have scored those two or three chances we could have (won) and we did good in the first half, but that’s football. Sometimes the goals just don’t come, we’ve just got to (stick with it).”
Lexington SC controlled the possession in the match, holding onto the ball 59.6% of the time while also winning in expected goals with a 1.39-1.22 advantage.
“I just tell them to keep going,” Diouf said of his message to the team. “It’s tough for all of us, we have a good team. It’s tough for the coaching staff, the owners, the players, the fans. The fans, they do the best they can and support us and we just say don’t give up. We know it’s tough but we have a good team to turn around. It’s a long season, I think we’re going to turn it around for sure.”
Next up for the Boys in Green, they’ll hit the road once again in USL Jagermeister Cup action on Saturday, July 20, before returning home to Toyota Stadium on July 27 against Richmond Kickers.
About Lexington Sporting Club
Lexington Sporting Club is a U.S. Soccer professional soccer club competing in USL League One (U.S. Soccer third division men’s professional soccer), and in USL Super League (women’s professional soccer launching in 2024). The two professional teams are the pinnacle of the soccer ecosystem in Lexington that features more than 1,000 players within its youth and academy systems. Lexington SC in the process of building the club’s formal stadium, performance center and training fields.