April 8, 2023 – United Soccer League One (USL1) – Lexington Sporting Club News Release
Lexington Sporting Club’s Tate Robertson in action
(Lexington Sporting Club)
GEORGETOWN, Ky. – Lexington Sporting Club drew Forward Madison in a 0-0 final at Toyota Stadium in Georgetown, Ky., earning the first point in club history on Saturday while celebrating the home opener.
The draw also marked the first ever clean sheet for Lexington Sporting Club and goalkeeper Austin Causey.
“I think it’s important, I think that’s the one thing we wanted to work on as a group to cut out the little mistakes especially on set pieces,” Causey said. “I think we did what we needed to do today defensively, we didn’t get many fouls in the box. Now we just go forward.”
The home team entered the game in a grueling stretch that saw it play three games in seven days, taking on North Carolina FC on Saturday, April 1, Louisville City on Wednesday and finally Forward Madison on April 8.
On a chilly and windy night in Georgetown, 3,029 fans packed into Toyota Stadium for the inaugural home game for the club, with Lexington SC quickly putting up the first shot attempt in the sixth minute courtesy of Ates Diouf.
It would be the visitors who would put up the first shots on target in the 21st and 26th minutes, both of which were expertly saved by Causey.
Lexington SC put up a shot on target of its own thanks to Nico Brown, but both clubs entered the halfway point deadlocked.
Khalid Balogun nearly gave the home fans their first ever goal at home in the 60th minute, but Forward Madison goalkeeper Bernd Schipmann made the save.
The home side put on the pressure late into the game with Terique Mohammed, Diouf and a debuting Drew Patterson all putting up valiant efforts to score, but a goal was simply not in the cards for either side as the teams finished the match 0-0.
“I thought it was a fantastic opening night game tonight and the boys worked extremely hard,” head coach Sam Stockley said. “Full credit to Forward Madison and everything they threw at us today, I’m really pleased with how our boys performed, happy with the result and more happy that we finally got this off the ground and all the supporters are out here supporting us.”
Forward Madison controlled the possession in the match, holding the ball 58.5% of the time and finishing with a 0.85 to 0.64 advantage in expected goals.
Next up for Lexington SC is the club’s second consecutive home stand against South Georgia Tormenta on Saturday, April…