A 90th minute Nighte Pickering winner earned the Lights three points after an intense match-up in Indianapolis.
Las Vegas Lights FC earned their second win in a row thanks to a Nighte Pickering goal in the dying moments of the match against Indy Eleven.
The first 45 minutes of the game were intense, with both teams deadlocked by each other’s rigid tactics and hampered by the Indianapolis heat and humidity. The match was a fierce duel in midfield, proven by the fact that there were only three shots from both clubs in the entire half.
The second half was a different story, as both teams opened up in the pursuit of victory. The Lights generated clear chances but failed to finish them. This would propel Interim Head Coach Giovanni Troise to reconfigure the team tactically and send in some fresh legs into the pitch – Nighte Pickering among them.
As the referee’s timer neared the 90th minute, Stefan Stojanovic took advantage of a long ball sent from defense, ran for his life, tried to shoot and had it blocked, and then capitalized on the rebound by sending a precise pass to Nighte Pickering, who would slot the ball into the net to give the Lights their first win on the road in the USL Championship regular season.
Tonight’s victory marks Interim Head Coach Giovanni Troise’s second win in two matches at the helm of the Lights. It is also Raiko Arozarena’s seventh shutout (in just 11 appearances) to continue leading the league’s clean sheet rankings.
What They’re Saying
INTERIM HEAD COACH GIOVANNI TROISE
On his initial thoughts on the match…
First of all, I want to say thanks to the guys because tonight they showed an amazing performance. Their attitude on the field, especially during the second half where everybody starts to be tired, where, you know, the energy starts to go low, physically and mentally. They showed that they are really important players; they showed they are really important men. And that’s why with the group tonight, we won the game. With the group… and I’m so happy for them.
On the team’s aggressive substitutions in the second half…
Now that we have Stefan, we have three number 9s. We can play two of them together. It’s obviously in our mind that we can play with two of them together. That’s why the first sub was Stefan inside together with Johnny. And then obviously because we have Nighte Pickering that… he showed already that he can be the man of the last minute. He’s able to score and he doesn’t need a lot of time. He just needs the ball when he’s left alone and he’s ready to score. That’s why we kept him a little bit, because he’s fresh compared to the defensive line of Indy. We kept him to put him in the last ten minutes. And yeah, it works.
On how it felt on the sideline when Nighte Pickering scored the winner…
I don’t think that I have words to explain it because it’s something too much natural. I just remember that I jumped on my goalkeeper coach Maxi because he was more happy than me, but then I don’t remember anything. I just remember people around me, but really, I don’t know. I just remember that after that, I was in the middle of the field and I don’t know how.
On what made him most proud about the team’s performance…
I think like I said in the beginning, they showed unbelievable attitude, unbelievable behavior. Because like you said, that team is hard… one of the best teams in this league. The field was heavy. So, the most important thing that I saw, especially in the end of the game: we were still there, we were still going forward. The attitude that the guys showed in the end of the game was simply unbelievable. That’s why I’m so proud of them, because every time we say two things: First, the game never finishes until referee doesn’t whistle, and the second is that the group is the most important thing. So, tonight we showed it.
On what’s next for the Lights…
We go game by game and for sure even now the Jägermeister Cup against Spokane Velocity is already on our mind. We are already working on that because it’s one of the goals that the club gave to us in the beginning of the season. We need to go forward. We want to go forward because it’s, once again, it’s one of our goals, so we will come back to Vegas, we will give a little bit of rest to the boys, we’ll work in the week, and we will be ready to play the USL Cup.
FORWARD NIGHTE PICKERING
How it felt to come off the bench and score the game winner…
I mean, once I’m coming off the bench, Gio just told me: get the winner. That was pretty much my job going in there as a 9 that late in the game, just running behind to try to get whatever shot off I can, and that’s what I was looking for, and it happened to come to me in the box like that, so… I did what I needed to do.
On the play that led to the goal…
As soon as I’d seen Stef running through, I wanted it the whole time. I was running on the other side, screaming for it from him and then I think he shot it, hit the defender’s leg, and came back to him. At that point I just see that I’m free right there in the left side of the box and I’m just screaming for it from him, and as soon as it comes it’s just finding a place in the net to put it.
On how it feels like to score a winner…
That’s why I love this position. I love this sport because that feeling is the best feeling for me… Coming on the game, whether I’m coming on, whether I’ve been playing, scoring the winning goal, it’s the best thing you can do.
On his goal celebration…
I started it at Vegas! People have been telling me for years that I should do it and usually when I scored, I wouldn’t really be thinking about the celebration too much. But people told me it fits my name and so when I scored that first goal at Cashman, I remembered it that one time and just started from there.
Summary
Lights Starting XI:
Arozarena (GK), Nigro, Jones (Howell, 75′), Gartig, Peeters (Pearson, 67′), Boudadi, Leal (Stojanovic, 75′), Noel (c), Smart (Gyau, 75′), Pinzon, Rodriguez (Pickering, 85′)
Indy Eleven Starting XI:
Sulte (GK), Ofeimu, Hogan (O’Brien, 80′), Musa, Rendon (White, 67′), Murphy, McRobb, Lindley, Quinn (c) (Collier, 67′), Blake (Foster, 67′), Amoh (Kizza, 67′)
Goals:
LV – Nighte Pickering – 90’
Discipline:
LV –Yellow, Gennaro Nigro – 2’
Next Up
The Lights will be back home on Saturday, June 28 at 7:30 PM playing against Spokane Velocity, where they will be hosting Pride Night at Cashman Field in the final group stage game of the USL Jagermeister Cup. Tickets are available now at lasvegaslightsfc.com/tickets.