The OSC Interview: Carolina Core FC Head Coach Roy Lassiter

by Fran Stuchbury
February 21, 2024 – MLS NEXT Pro (MLS NEXT Pro) – Carolina Core FC

Carolina Core FC Head Coach Roy Lassiter
(Carolina Core FC, Credit: Fran Stuchbury)

OurSports Central contributor Fran Stuchbury interviewed MLS NEXT Pro Carolina Core FC Head Coach Roy Lassiter after his team’s 5-2 pre-season loss to USL Championship side North Carolina FC Saturday. No stranger to the area, Lassiter played college soccer at North Carolina State from 1990 until 1992, where he finished third in NCAA Division I scoring, tallying 22 goals his senior year. He scored 25 goals as a junior and 13 as a sophomore for the Wolfpack.

During Major League Soccer’s inaugural season in 1996, Lassiter led MLS with 37 goals. Over his seven-year MLS career, he finished with 88 goals and won a MLS Cup with D.C. United in 1999. He was also a member of the United States men’s national team from 1992 until 2000.

Lassiter’s coaching career started with the Kitsap Pumas in the National Premier Soccer League in 2017 then on to as an assistant with MLS NEXT Pro’s Houston Dynamo 2 in 2022 and 2023.

His son, Ariel Lassiter, currently plays for MLS’s CF Montreal.

Carolina Core FC, based in High Point, NC, begins its inaugural season in March, playing in MLS NEXT Pro, MLS’s developmental league. Unlike most teams in the league, the Core are not directly affiliated with an MLS team.

Fran Stuchbury: How do you feel about the squad after this game?

Roy Lassiter: Well, I’d say I’m really proud of the guys. We are coming up against a seasoned team like North Carolina; they really gave us a good lesson. It’s preseason, and I wanted to play a strong team. I wanted my players to face good competition because that’s what competition they’re gonna face in MLS NEXT Pro. So these are learning moments for us to go back and see what we did good and see what we need to work on more, but these are good opportunities in preseason.

FS: Do you have any standout players you want to mention?

RL: I’m just thankful for their effort, a team effort, they came back and got a couple goals, settled themselves into the game. They got more confidence as they went along. I felt that they could compete with them. You’re talking about a USL League One championship team that moved up to USL Championship this season. This is a really good team, and they have very good players on it. Some of our players haven’t seen that type of competition. It was very good to see, and I’m proud of them to finish out the game.

FS: What…