CARY, NC (April 6, 2022) – Despite a hard-fought performance throughout the entirety of tonight’s match, North Carolina FC fell to Rio Grande Valley FC in the second round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday night, 2-1. Jaden Servania added the goal for NCFC, opening his scoring account in his second appearance with the club. Frank Lopez and Frank Nodarse each added a goal apiece for the visitors.
“There’s a lot of fight in this group,” said Head Coach John Bradford. “I think that it stretches where they had to defend, dig in, and just continue to be that workman-like group like they were last week at Tormenta. That’s going to be part of who we are this year, and I think [it will be] consistent, so that’s a positive. After a solid first half and a quality goal at the end of the first half, it came down to a momentum shift, and we slipped. [Rio Grande Valley] took advantage of that. These things happen, and I thought the group did pretty well to regroup and get mentally back into it and continue to push and continue to press. [I’m] pleased with the fight within this group.”
After spending most of the first half deadlocked at 0-0, Servania opened the scoring for the North Carolina side in the 45th minute. To begin the scoring play, Raheem Somersall beat his defender and slipped a pass to Oalex Anderson just outside the eighteen. Taking several touches, Anderson played a ball into the corner, finding Chris Lue Young for the service. Lue Young’s cross was then headed out by an opposing defender, only to be intercepted by Servania. Settling the ball at his feet, the midfielder buried a shot into the upper 90 to give the home side a 1-0 advantage.
The Toros added an equalizer in the 54th minute, a goal from Frank Lopez knotting the score at 1-1. Later, in the 79th minute, Frank Nodarse scored the go-ahead goal for the visitors to pull Rio Grande Valley ahead. Despite creating several scoring chances as the clock wound down, NCFC were unable to find the goal that would send the match into overtime, falling short of Rio Grande Valley FC 2-1.
NCFC will return to WakeMed Soccer Park this Saturday, April 9 at 7 p.m. ET for their regular season home opener against the Chattanooga Red Wolves. Tickets to the match are available here.
Match Notes:
- Jaden Servania scored his first goal with the club in tonight’s match.
- Will Pulisic made two saves throughout the match.
- The NCFC backline made 26 clearances during tonight’s match.
Up Next: North Carolina FC will host their USL League One home opener this Saturday, April 9 at 7 p.m. ET against the Chattanooga Red Wolves. Tickets to the match are available here.
Box Score:
NCFC (4-4-2): Will Pulisic, Christian Lue Young (Max Flick – 90’), Jordan Skelton ©, Gustavo Fernandes, Nelson Flores Blanco, Nelson Martinez (Caden Tolentino – 89’), Luis Arriaga, Jaden Servania, Raheem Somersall (Drew Kerr – 88’), Garrett McLaughlin, Oalex Anderson (Cole Frame – 82’)
Subs Not Used: Britton Fischer, Nicholas Holliday, Nicolas Rincon
RGV (4-3-3): Colin Miller, Stefan Mueller, Frank Nodarse (Juan Cabezas Nunez – 82’), Jesús Vázquez, Jonathan Ricketts, Emilio Ycaza, Wahab Ackwei, Isidro Martinez, Ricky Ruiz (Duilio Herrera – 82’), Frank Lopez (Robert Coronado – 88’), Dylan Borczak
Subs Not Used: Daniel Luis Sáez, Juan Pablo Torres, Luka Malesevic, Javier Garcia
Score:
NCFC: 1
RGV: 2
Goals:
NCFC: Jaden Servania — 45’
RGV: Frank Lopez – 54’, Frank Nodarse – 79’
Cautions:
NCFC: Nelson Flores Blanco — 10’, Oalex Anderson – 53’, Christian Lue Young – 77’, Caden Tolentino – 90+4’
RGV: Frank Nodarse – 45+2’, Jonathan Ricketts – 90+2’
Ejections:
NCFC: –
RGV: –
