Match Recap: Las Vegas Lights FC Defeats Lexington SC 2-1 at Cashman Field

The Lights earned valuable three points at home against Western Conference foes and direct rivals Lexington SC

Las Vegas Lights FC defeated Western Conference rivals Lexington SC by a score of 2-1 at Cashman Field on Saturday night.

Lexington opened up the scoresheet early in the match when a powerful shot from midfielder Aaron Molloy bounced inside the box and rocketed past Charlie Lanphier.

The Lights would respond five minutes later. Captain Christian Pinzon assisted a perfectly positioned Johnny Rodriguez, who shot from afar to make things level for the Lights.

Vegas took the lead in the 38th minute. A gritty Themi Antonoglou regained possession and passed the ball to Oalex Anderson, who defeated his marker and sent a low cross right into Christian Pinzon, who’d smash the ball into the net to make things 2-1.

The second half was just as intense as the first, with the Lights going down a man in the 83rd minute after Marc Ybarra was sent off for a rough tackle.

Vegas was able to hold on to the lead despite Lexington’s constant attempts, earning three extremely valuable points in the team’s pursuit of playoff qualification.

What They’re Saying

HEAD COACH DEVIN RENSING

On his overall thoughts on the win…

I’m really, really proud of the guys. They gritted out a tough performance. That Lexington team’s got a lot of talented players. To go down a man late in the game like that and to grind through it, I’m just really, really proud of the guys.

On Christian Pinzon’s man of the match performance as captain…

He just brings fantastic energy to the group. He puts himself in good positions. He’s been at this club the longest. He lives and dies for this. He wants to play in front of those fans and bring wins home for our fans.

On what this result says about the group’s resilience tonight…

To tell you the truth, they’ve been working hard all year. I mean, they’re a tough group. I think that we had some learning lessons early on. We gave up some soft goals. I think that maybe this game was a little bit of a culmination of some previous games.

I’m really just really proud of the guys. We needed to get three points tonight and they deserve to have all the good feelings.

FORWARD CHRISTIAN PINZON

On his overall thoughts on the team’s win…

Man, well deserved. You know, this group works works hard day in, day out. It’s about that time we we got a win, and hopefully it’s the start to a good momentum for the season.

On his game-winning goal…

We know what Oalex can do, especially on the on the sideline. So, as soon as he takes it down the line, the first thing in my head is: crash, he’s going to get a a cross in. And that’s exactly what happened.

On what needs to happen to capitalize on this momentum…

Ride this wave of momentum. Come Monday, good vibes, start training again, and… we’re looking forward to to smashing New Mexico.

Summary

Las Vegas Lights Starting XI:

Lanphier (GK), Pope, Jones (Ofeimu, 76′), Guillen, Antonoglou, Probo, Ybarra, Scott (Arteaga, 73′), Anderson (Okyere, 73′), Pinzon (c) (Locker, 87′), Rodriguez (Pickering, 88′)

Lexington SC Starting XI:

Semmle (GK), Greene, Burks, Ordonez (Scott, 57′), Brown, Molloy (c), Ferri, Blessing (Firmino, 57′), Zengue, Epps (Lewis, 79′), Goodrum

Goals:

LEX – Molloy – 6′

LV – Rodriguez – 11′ (assist: Pinzon)

LV – Pinzon – 38′ (assist: Anderson)

Discipline:

LV – Yellow, Guillen – 19’

LV – Yellow, Rodriguez – 19’

LEX – Yellow, Ferri – 22′

LV – Yellow, Anderson – 28’

LEX – Yellow, Blessing – 42′