FC Tucson gave up a couple late goals to drop their second straight home match on Saturday night.
FC Tucson (1-3-1) closed out their two-match homestead with a 2-1 loss to North Carolina FC at Kino North Stadium.
“I think we were really bright in the first 20 minutes, the goal was deserved, I thought we had players running behind, we were threatening, creating the chances that you weren’t seeing in the game before,” said FC Tucson coach Jon Pearlman.
“The second half I felt to me like there was never a time where we controlled the ball an to control the tempo the way we should.”
In the first minute of second-half stoppage time, FC Tucson midfielder Burke Fahling gave up a penalty kick, fouling NCFC midfielder Jaden Servania. North Carolina forward Oalex Anderson then scored the match-winner.
“Obviously we did a poor job of closing the game down because we lost, I gave up the penalty at the end,” Fahling said. “I think tired legs and I lost my feet, so that’s just something we gotta deal with and move on from.”
FC Tucson forward Deri Corfe opened the scoring in the ninth minute, with an assist from midfielder Daniel Bedoya.
Servania scored the equalizer in the 68th minute.
Going into the match North Carolina FC (2-2-1) was in last place. With the loss, FC Tucson dropped into last from sixth.
NCFC outshot FC Tucson 20-6, including 15-2 in the second half.
Fahling said the North Carolina FC loss definitely felt worse than the 2-0 defeat to South Georgia Tormenta FC last week.
“Because we started very strong and again I think we just, for whatever reason, we just lost in that second half,” Fahling said. “It’s positive because we know we started well so now we just focus on the positives and then fix whatever we did wrong because we have a game next week, it moves fast.”
FC Tucson continues on to Tobacco Road when it plays at the Charlotte Independence (2-1-2) on May 15. The Men in Black’s next home match is May 20 against the Richmond Kickers (2-2-1).
“We’re in need of points, we need to stop the bleeding,” Pearlman said. “It’s incredibly tough to have a two-game home stand and come up with zero points.
Corner kicks
- FC Tucson defender Kaelon Fox made his first start of the season and wore the captain’s arm band. Fox, who returned last week from an MCL injury, was subbed out at halftime though. Losing Kaelon at the half you could feel leadership missing,” Pearlman said.
- Defender Tarn Weir and midfielder Tevin Shaw were injured for FC Tucson, and Men in Black midfielder Louis Perez was suspended after getting a red card last week.
