Las Vegas Lights FC earned a hard-fought road point but will likely be disappointed to not come away with the full three points after dominating San Antonio FC Saturday night. The Lights outshot the home side 21-3 and had a 73%-27% advantage in possession, but couldn’t find a second goal despite peppering San Antonio goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh late in the match.
The Lights set the tone for the match from the whistle, controlling possession in the early goings of the match and largely kept San Anotonio pinned into their own half for the first 15 minutes.
Lights’ best early chance came in the sixth minute when defender Shawn Smart was fed the ball just inside the box and hit a driven ball that required McIntosh to get down quickly to deny the defender’s attempt.
Despite the Lights owning the run of play for much of the first half, it was the home side that struck first just before the halftime whistle. San Antonio forward Juan Agudelo received an entry pass at the top of the box before sliding a square ball to Machop Chol. The midfielder took one touch to control the ball and struck a low squibbler through traffic that snuck past Lights goalkeeper Nicholas Ammeter and nestled into the far post for a 1-0 lead that carried into halftime.
The match took a significant turn shortly after the start of the second half when SAFC midfielder Jorge Hernandez received back-to-back yellow cards in less than a minute and was sent off in the 48th.
With a man advantage, the Lights increased their pressure on San Antonio and drew level through Frenchman Valentin Noël in the 59th minute. The goal came after Noël collected the ball 25 yards from goal, shed one defender and then fed the ball wide to Coleman Gannon. The midfielder carried the ball into the box and played a perfectly-lofted ball across the six-yard box for the onrushing Noël who hit a first-time volley, easily beating the helpless McIntosh. The goal was Noël’s fourth of the season, and Gannon’s assist was his first since joining the squad.
The Lights were fully in control of the game while playing up a man, creating multiple chances in the games final quarter hour. J.C. Ngando smashed a shot near-post from just inside the box in the 76th. Gaoussou Samaké found Solomon Asante with a beautiful cross in the 79th minute, but the second-half substitute’s header smashed into the ground and bounced over the goal.
With eight minutes of added time, it looked like the Lights would find the winner. At the 90+5’ mark, Samaké hit a laser from just outside the box but it sailed just wide of goal. Then, with only a minute remaining in the match, Khori Bennett got on the end of a beautiful cross but couldn’t keep the header down as it sailed just over SAFC’s goal.
The whistle sounded shortly after and the points were shared. The Lights record is now 3-6-1 (10 points) while San Antonio moves to to 3-2-5 (14 points).
SCORING SUMMARY
SA – Machop Chol (Juan Agudelo) 45+2
LV – Valentin Noël (Coleman Gannon) 59’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
LV – Emrah Klimenta (caution) 13’
SA – Kendall Burks (caution) 38’
SA – Jorge Hernandez (caution) 47’
SA – Jorge Hernandez (second caution – ejection) 48’
LV – Gennaro Nigro (caution) 45’
LINEUPS AND STATS
Las Vegas Lights FC: Nicholas Ammeter; Gennaro Nigro (Riki Alba 67’), Fabien Garcia, Emrah Klimenta (Maliek Howell 67’), Shawn Smart; Charlie Adams, J.C. Ngando, Coleman Gannon (Solomon Asante 67’), Valentin Noël; Edison Azcona (Khori Bennett 83’), Gaoussou Samaké
Substitutes not used: Raiko Arozarena, Hayden Sargis, Alexander Romero,
Total shots: 21
Shots on goal: 6
Fouls: 15
Corner kicks: 7
Saves: 0
San Antonio FC: Kendall McIntosh; Mitchell Taintor, Kendall Burks, Trova Boni; Mohamed Omar, Machop Chol (Luke Haakenson 68’), Kevon Lambert, Jorge Hernandez, Shannon Gomez; Juan Agudelo (Jose Mulato 85’), Kameron Lacey (Bura Eduardo Fernandez 60’)
Substitutes not used:, Brandon Gongora, Izaiah Garza, Gia Padillas
Total shots: 3
Shots on goal: 1
Fouls: 15
Corner kicks: 2
Saves: 5
