2020 USL Championship Schedule Week 1 (#NCvLOU) NCFC 2019 Record: 16W-10L-8D, 56 points; 7th place Date .................................................. March 7, 2020 Eastern Conference Location.................................................... Cary, N.C. Field .....Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Kickoff Time .......................................2:30 p.m. (ET) 03.07 vs. Louisville City 2:30 PM Broadcast Information .................................ESPN+ 03.14 vs. Philadelphia II 2:30 PM 03.21 at. Tampa Bay 7:00 PM 04.03 vs. Charlotte 7:00 PM NC LOU 04.11 at ATL United 2 5:30 PM 04.15 at SKC II 8:00 PM 04.25 vs. Birmingham 7:00 PM Game Preview: 05.02 vs.Pittsburgh 7:00 PM Coming off a promising first season under head coach Dave Sarachan in 2019 that included a trip to the USL Championship Playoffs, North Carolina FC will kick off its 2020 campaign against Louisville 05.09 vs. Memphis 7:00 PM City FC on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park. 05.13 at Loudoun United 7:00 PM 05.16 at Charleston Battery 7:00 PM For the second time in as many years, Louisville City serves as NCFC’s opening day opponent, as NCFC 05.23 at Indy Eleven 7:00 PM defeated Saturday’s visitors 4-1 on March 9, 2019 in Sarachan’s first-ever match in charge. That win 05.30 vs. NY RB II 7:00 PM was the first of 16 in the regular season for NCFC, which tied a club record. NCFC returns 14 players from last year’s squad, including goalkeeper Alex Tambakis (2019 NCFC MVP), midfielder Steven Miller 06.06 vs. Hartford Athletic 7:00 PM (NCFC Offensive Player of the Year) and defender DJ Taylor (NCFC Defensive Player of the Year.) 06.12 at Charlotte 7:00 PM 06.20 vs. Saint Louis 7:00 PM Miller, NCFC’s longest active tenured player, led NCFC in assists (six) in 2019 and was also the team’s 06.27 vs. Loudoun United 7:00 PM joint leading scorer (nine goals) along with forward Robert Kristo, also back in 2020. 07.04 at Pittsburgh 6:30 PM In addition to returning a productive core group of players, NCFC strengthened its squad over the 07.11 at. Memphis 8:30 PM offseason with eight newcomers, including four with Major League Soccer experience. Fuquay-Varina 07.18 at Hartford 7:00 PM native and NCFC Youth Academy product Conor Donovan is back home, with the defender having 07.25 vs. Tampa Bay 7:00 PM previously played for Orlando City and Houston Dynamo. Like Donovan, new forward Hadji Barry is a 08.02 at NY RB II 5:00 PM former first-round MLS SuperDraft of Orlando, and was a Second Team All-USL selection in 2018 with 08.06 vs. Indy Eleven 7:00 PM Swope Park Rangers. 08.15 vs. SKC II 7:00 PM Adding experience and physicality is experienced Brazilian midfielder Pecka, who most recently 08.23 at Philadelphia 2:30 PM served as captain of San Antonio FC. A 2019 first-round MLS SuperDraft selection by D.C. United, 08.30 at Loudoun United 1:00 PM outside back Akeem Ward provides versatility and depth to NCFC’s backline. 09.05 vs. ATL United 2 7:00 PM 09.11 at Miami FC 7:30 PM Saturday’s match is the first of two straight at home to start off the year for NCFC, which should bode well for Sarachan’s group. Last season, NCFC went 11W-1L-5D in 17 regular-season matches in Cary, 09.19 vs. Charlotte 7:00 PM which ranked as the third-best home record in the USL Championship. Louisville City will serve as a 09.23 vs. Miami FC 7:00 PM tough opening test for NCFC, however. Coached by John Hackworth, Louisville City has appeared in the 09.26 at Saint Louis 8:00 PM last three USL Championship Finals, winning it all in 2017 and ‘18. Last season, the two teams split the 10.02 vs. Charleston Battery 7:00 PM regular-season series, with the home side winning on both occasions. 10.10 at Birmingham 7:30 PM 10.17 at Louisville City 7:00 PM Players To Watch: North Carolina FC – #11 Robert Kristo Back for his second season with the club, Kristo quickly made himself a fan-favorite in 2019 with his goalscoring record at home and his creative celebrations. The 6’4” targetman co-led NCFC in scoring with nine goals, all of which came at WakeMed Soccer Park. Kristo was one of four NCFC players to find the back of the net in last year’s opener against Louisville City, and a goal from him on Saturday would go a long way in helping NCFC secure all three points. Louisville City FC– #9 Cameron Lancaster The USL Championship’s Golden Boot winner in 2018, Lancaster returns to Louisville City in 2020 on loan from MLS side Nashville SC. The former Tottenham Hotspur man is clinical in front of goal, and the NCFC defense will be sure to keep an eye on him at all times. North Carolina Football Club 2020 North Carolina FC Roster No. Name Pos. HT WT Country Pronunciation Guide 1 Alex Tambakis GK 6’3” 199 Greece tam-BAK-is 2 Manny Perez M 6’0” 158 USA per-ez 3 Caleb Duvernay D 5’7” 162 USA doo-VER-nay 4 Alex Comsia D 6’0” 182 Canada comb-sia 5 Sam Brotherton D 6’2” 200 New Zealand bro-ther-ton 7 Pecka M 5’7” 152 Brazil peck-uh 8 Dre Fortune M 5’11” 170 USA for-chun 10 Nazmi Albadawi (Captain) M 5.10’ 168 USA/Palestine NAHZ-Mee al-bah-DAHH-wee 11 Robert Kristo F 6’4” 219 USA kris-toe 15 Malick Mbaye D 6’0” 167 Senegal muh-leak m-BY-yay 16 Graham Smith M 5’8” 155 USA smith 17 Ben Speas F 5’8” 177 USA speas 20 Conor Donovan D 6’2” 187 USA don-o-van 21 Daniele Proch F 5’7” 155 Italy dan-yell-a 24 Paulo Pita GK 6’3” 200 Brazil POW-low PEE-tuh 27 D.J. Taylor D 5’9” 165 USA taylor 30 Akeem Ward D 5’7” 150 USA ah-keem 31 Steven Miller (Vice Captain) D 5’11” 169 USA miller 34 Luke Hille M 5’10” 150 USA hill 35 Adam Armour D 5’10’” 155 USA arm-or 36 Trace Alphin GK 6’2” 163 USA AL-fin 92 Hadji Barry F 6’0” 168 Guinea ha-gee Technical Staff Head Coach: Dave Sarachan (SARA-kin) Assistant Coach: John Bradford Assistant Coach: Mike McGinty Goalkeeper Coach: Nic Platter Athletic Trainer: Shawn Wilson Head Equipment Manager: Greg Moore Assistant Equipment Manager: Youssef Dahouz #No Finish Line North Carolina Football Club North Carolina Football Club USL Eastern Conference Standings Pos. GP W L D GD Pts. 1 Atlanta United 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Birmingham Legion 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 Charleston Battery 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 Charlotte Independence 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 Hartford Athletic 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 Indy Eleven 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 Loudoun United 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 Louisville City 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 Memphis 901 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 Miami FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 NY Red Bulls II 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 North Carolina FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 Philadelphia Union II 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 Pittsburgh Riverhounds 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 Saint Louis FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 Sporting Kansas City II 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 Tampa Bay Rowdies 0 0 0 0 0 0 NCFC Injury Report Week 1: Out: None Questionable: None #No Finish Line North Carolina Football Club #NCvLOU comed over 40,000 guests from across the globe, coach in club history. NCFC Series Record: 1W-2L-1D including attendees hailing from all 50 states and Last Meeting: Aug. 24, 2019, Louisville, Ky.: 1-0, more than 10 international countries. Home Sweet Home Loss NCFC kicks off its season with two straight home Club Legend Austin da Luz Joins NCFC matches, which should bode well for Sarachan’s An NCFC win would... Broadcast Team group. In 2019, NCFC went an impressive 11W-1L- North Carolina FC legend Austin da Luz will join 5D at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park -Mark the second year in a row NCFC opened the play-by-play announcer Dean Linke in the broad- during the USL Championship regular season. season with a home win against Louisville. cast booth as a color commentator for NCFC match- NCFC’s 38 home points were the third-most in the es in 2020, the club announced Feb. 26. 36-team league, as the team posted its best home -Improve NCFC’s all-time opening day record to record since 2013. 6W-2L-6D. Da Luz, a Winston-Salem native and longtime Triangle resident, recently retired in 2019 following Keeping it in the Fam -Mark the first time since 2015-16 that NCFC won a 10-season professional career, the majority of North Carolina FC has provided a blueprint for fellow back-to-back season openers. which was spent with NCFC following stints with clubs to follow with its reputation for developing D.C.