The Lights stormed ahead with an inspiring comeback, but a late stoppage time goal was the team’s undoing in a 4-3 loss.
Las Vegas Lights FC lost a heartbreaking match away at FC Tulsa on Saturday night by a score of 4-3.
After going behind to two early first half goals, the Lights had a hefty deficit to climb out from. The team rallied immediately, first through a deflected Johnny Rodriguez goal and then a lovely team goal that Shawn Smart finished with the last kick of the half to equalize.
The team took that momentum straight into the second half, and Smart continued to be the danger man. After Valentin Noel clipped in a good cross in the 62nd minute, Smart collected the rebound to calmly slot home his second of the game and put the Lights ahead 3-2.
However, FC Tulsa had a comeback of their own on the cards. The team from Oklahoma pulled one back with just under 15 minutes remaining, and the game looked destined for a 3-3 draw from there.
However, after a late stoppage time free kick was awarded to Tulsa, they created chaos in the box with the service. As the ball was headed across the goal, the final touch came off defender Elias Gartig and into the back of the net.
Despite a furious challenge for another equalizer, Las Vegas came up short to drop the result by a final score of 4-3.
What They’re Saying
INTERIM HEAD COACH GIOVANNI TROISE
On his overall thoughts on the loss…
I think we performed pretty well in our situations with the ball. For sure, we have to talk a little bit about the situation without the ball.
I’m happy for the response the guys had after we went behind 2-0. Then, we got three goals and we were up. Of course, I think some of the calls the referee didn’t have.
In the end, we lost the game, and we have to keep going. The guys have to be proud about the performance, keep going, and think about the next game.
On the individual performances in the match…
For sure, you can’t always be perfect. We have many individuals that are great. We have a young team with many players that are U-24, U-25. We have a really young group with a lot of them in their first year in the league.
So, we have to grow individually and as a group.
On the upcoming Orange County match and what has to change…
We have to change the attitude without the ball.
We have to return to being aggressive when we don’t have the ball to be more safe.
We beat them (Orange County) already, so they have motivation to be nervous against us. So, it’s going to be a tough game, and we have to be ready.
DEFENDER SHAWN SMART
On his overall thoughts on the match…
Obviously, we’re disappointed because we were on top of the game and deserved to win. Unfortunately, we ended up losing the game through [specific] moments.
On what he felt went wrong during the match to drop the result…
I just felt like we lacked a little bit of focus and concentration in a few key moments of the game.
It’s a positive thing that we were able to score three goals, but it’s definitely hard to win a football match when you concede four goals. I just felt like the concentration and focus in a few moments [was lacking], but that was it. We had the quality.
On the Orange County match and what needs to change…
I think that we need to keep trending in the right direction.
We’ve had two okay performances where the results didn’t go our way. But, I feel like if we stay at it and just bring more focus and attention to detail, we’ll be fine.
Summary
Lights Starting XI:
Arozarena (GK), Smart, Howell, Gartig, Jones, Nigro, Pearson, Noel (c), Leal, Stojanovic, Rodriguez
FC Tulsa Starting XI:
Penaranda (GK), Rogers, Cissoko, Damm, St. Clair, Serrato, Diallo, Stauffer, Goldthorp, Calheira, Webber
Goals:
TUL – Marcos Serrato – 9′
TUL – Jamie Webber (assist: St. Clair) – 16′
LV – Johnny Rodriguez (assist: Stojanovic) – 32′
LV – Shawn Smart (assist: Nigro) – 45+2′
LV – Shawn Smart – 62′
TUL – Taylor Calheira (assist: Serrato) – 76′
TUL – Gartig (own goal) – 90+2′
Discipline:
LV – Yellow, Valentin Noel – 39′
LV – Yellow, Shawn Smart – 75′
LV – Yellow, Younes Boudadi – 82′
TUL – Yellow, Delentz Pierre – 85′
LV – Yellow, Christopher Pearson – 87′
LV – Yellow, Johnny Rodriguez – 89′
LV – Yellow, Rory O’Driscoll – 90+1′
Next Up
The Las Vegas Lights will be traveling again, this time to Irvine, California to take on Orange County SC on Saturday, July 19 at 7:00 p.m. PT.