July 28, 2024 – United Soccer League One (USL1)
Lexington Sporting Club News Release
Lexington SC forward Ates Diouf (32)
(Lexington Sporting Club, Credit: Jacob Bramley)
Lexington Sporting Club earned a 2-1 victory at home in USL League One play at Toyota Stadium on Saturday. The result marked the second victory in USL League One play this season for the Greens.
“What we did really well this time was stop them from getting any momentum, (we had) really good energy after conceding to score straight away,” head coach Darren Powell said. “Overall we got three points, we want to keep improving and we said to the players, ‘It’s time to find ways to win games as opposed to finding ways to lose games.’ Proud of them.”
Coming into the competition fresh off a battle away at Forward Madison in which the Greens just narrowly came up short after a late winner by the Mingos, Lexington had a clear chip on its shoulder as it faced off with the Richmond Kickers.
Lexington SC put the pressure on immediately in the second minute with a corner and a shot on target by Yannick Yankam, but neither side was able to find the back of the net for the majority of the first half.
That would all change, however, when Azaad Liadi was served in a ball from Yankam in the 40th minute and stretched out to score a beautiful strike and put the home side up 1-0.
“It means a lot,” Liadi said. “I’ve been in a little bit of a rut goal scoring wise so just to get back on the score sheet and help the team is the most important thing. (It was) just instinct.”
The score would remain unchanged when the halftime whistle blew, granting both sides a break and a chance to reassess strategy.
Fresh in the second half, Richmond planned to come out and punch the Greens in the mouth, scoring an immediate equalizer in the 46th minute.
While the Greens of old may have struggled to regroup from the tough start to the second half, the second-year pairing of Nico Brown and Ates Diouf marched right down the field and Brown’s cross into the box would be masterfully headed into the net by Diouf in the 48th minute for an immediate response.
The goal, which would serve as the winner, was Diouf’s 20th goal for Lexington SC after finishing the 2023 season as the club’s leading scorer.
“I’m happy,” Diouf said. “I think we deserved the win. We talk about being on our front foot and I think we did that today. We know what we can do, we have good players, we know we can keep going and really begin (winning consistently). Losing is no…