Lexington Sporting Club fought to a 2-2 draw against Richmond Kickers at Toyota Stadium. The result marked the second consecutive point-bearing result for the club.
The draw brings the club’s record to 4-9-6 (18 points), standing at 10th in the league standings. The result also saw Richmond move to 6-6-8 (26 points), residing in 7th in the league.
“I think it was a game of two halves,” Lexington head coach Sam Stockley said. “(I’m) a little bit frustrated with the first half just because we’ve been better than that but I’m very pleased with the second half. We dug in and got something out of the game against a quality team.”
Lexington SC entered the match on the back of a 3-0 win over Union Omaha that snapped a four-match losing streak. The win was the largest in club history.
Things got off to a messy start on a muggy Georgetown evening when the Kickers found the back of the net in the seventh minute despite the home side applying the pressure early.
Veteran Don Smart would soon equalize the match from the penalty spot in the 10th minute, his fourth successful penalty kick of the season.
Despite that, Richmond quickly jumped back ahead in the 16th minute. Nil Vinyals was the goal scorer for both Kickers goals.
Entering the break down one, the home side came out ready to battle in the second half. Richmond seemed determined not to surrender the lead as well, leading to a closely contested battle.
While the home side continued to apply the pressure and put up attempts, it was unable to find a match winner and the full-time whistle brought a sharing of points.
“We didn’t start right for 15 minutes and found ourselves down 2-1 but as you’ve seen with this group the resilience is there and they keep going. We asked them to be more aggressive at halftime, step into them and be brave and I think they did that. We’re very excited about that. The new system suits us, it gives us that ability to be aggressive. The momentum is there.”
Richmond controlled the possession in the match, holding the ball 57.1% of the time while Lexington won in expected goals, seeing a 1.55 to 0.40 advantage.
Next up for Lexington SC the club will go on an extended road trip, facing both Union Omaha and NC Hailstorm FC away in the coming week. The boys in green will then return home on August 12 in a revenge match against CV Fuego FC.
Fans can purchase tickets to the match through the link here.
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 1,400 players within its youth and academy systems. Lexington SC in the process of building the club’s formal stadium, performance center and training fields.