LEXINGTON, Ky. — It was the kind of win for Lexington to hang its hat on Saturday night, knocking off first-place San Antonio FC 2-0 and not surrendering a single shot on target. The victory was the fourth in five matches for LSC across all competitions as the season momentum has fully swung in the Greens’ favor.
The first half of play was uneventful as it pertained to the scoreboard, but Lexington dictated play throughout the period. The Greens retained 60% of possession and tallied five shots compared to San Antonio’s three.
Lexington’s dominance was finally rewarded early in the second half with the first goal of the match and Blaine Ferri’s second of the season.
Flawless build-up play featured Aaron Molloy laying the ball off to Marcus Epps at the corner of the box. Epps patiently assessed his options, then saw Ferri dart from his position as a deep-lying midfielder through the heart of the box. Epps delivered a perfect ball that met Ferri’s head for the breakthrough.
One goal was not enough for the Greens as the home side doubled its lead in the 68’ minute off the boot of Braudílio Rodrigues.
Rodrigues began the season on loan at USL League One’s One Knoxville SC, where he scored seven goals in 12 matches across all competitions. In his first match back in the Bluegrass after being recalled on June 2, he did not lose a step.
He beat his defender in the middle of the pitch and charged towards goal. He offloaded the ball to his right, and Xavier Zengue returned it to the Brazilian right in front of goal for an easy tap-in.
Defensively, Lexington goalkeeper Oliver Semmle was not tested and picked up his fourth clean sheet of the season.
With the 2-0 win, Lexington extended its home winning streak to three straight and is now 4W-1L-0D over its last five matches in all competitions.
GOALS
LEX: 48’ Blaine Ferri (assist: Marcus Epps)
LEX: 68’ Braudílio Rodrigues (assist: Xavier Zengue)
LINEUPS
LEX: Oliver Semmle, Jacob Greene, Javain Brown, Kendall Burks, Xavier Zengue (89’ Tarik Scott), Blaine Ferri, Aaron Molloy, Nick Firmino, Marcus Epps (81’ Joe Hafferty), Alfredo Midence (45’ Michael Adedokun), Braudílio Rodrigues (69’ Malik Henry-Scott)
SA: Joseph Batrouni, Mitchell Taintor (71’ Luke Haakenson), Daniel Barbir, Alexis Souahy, Nelson Flores, Akeem Ward, Emil Cuello (70’ Dmitrii Erofeev), Lucio Berrón, Mikey Maldonado, Jorge Hernández (83’ Nicky Hernandez), Christian Sorto (83’ Emmanuel Johnson)
UP NEXT
LSC returns to The Stables next Saturday, June 20 to host Indy Eleven in the Third Round of the Prinx Tires USL Cup’s group stage. Lexington currently sits in third place in Group 4 with five points and two group stage matches remaining. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET.
