Miami FC doomed by second-half mistakes in 0-4 loss to North Carolina FC
MIAMI — Miami FC fell victim to another second half of mistakes as they gave away all three points to North Carolina FC in USL Championship action Saturday night in Miami.
Miami and North Carolina started the match exchanging possession without much threat on either side's goal. Miami's most dangerous play came down the left wing with Jordan Ayimbila pressing the NCFC defense; however, former Miami FC captain Paco Craig kept the NCFC organized enough to thwart each Miami attack.
On the other side of the ball, Pipe Rodriguez in his first start in goal as Miami FC's first homegrown keeper in club history stood confident as well. His composure and confidence showed off in the 45th minute right before halftime.
With the field wet from rain earlier in the half, NCFC was able to take advantage of Nico Cardona slipping and giving the ball away to Oalex Anderson for North Carolina FC. Anderson found himself one-on-one with Miami's Pipe, but the young keeper made an incredible save to keep things level going into the half.
The second half again had all the action unfortunately all of that momentum in the direction of North Carolina FC.
The visitors turned on the heat and began their opening lead in the 51st-minute goal by Evan Conway off another set piece. Conway outstretched the Miami defenders to put a ball past Miami's Pipe who had no chance for the save.
Miami's only bright spot came minutes after NCFC's first goal just as Allen Gavilanes subbing on in the 58th minute brought instant energy for Miami.
That renewed energy in the attack in the 60th minute produced a great chance by Rocco Genzano off a fantastic through ball by Biek. Genzano however chose to shoot instead of squaring the ball back to Gavilanes who was ready to tap the ball into the net. Instead, the ball went past the far post and out of danger for Miami's best chance of the night.
It went all downhill after that for Miami. After Miami's chance on goal did not result in a goal, NCFC found itself with more possession and fed a quick counter down the left side. NCFC's Oalex Anderson found himself with a perfect cross and buried his chance in the 69th minute to put the visitors up by two goals.
The crowd then saw NCFC pull off an incredible 77th-minute "Olimpico" goal by Mikey Maldonado whose fantastic chance curled around Miami's Pipe to extend the visitors' lead to three goals.
NCFC wasn't done with the scoring after a fluke play led to the final goal of the night and sealed Miami's fate.
In the 89th minute, Rodrigo Da Costa tried to pass to Anderson, but Anderson missed the ball which caused Miami's Pipe to lose track of the ball as he charged forward to collect. The ball somehow then went through his legs and into the back of the net for NCFC's fourth of the night.
After a disappointing result, Miami will return home to FIU Football Stadium to host Louisville City FC on Saturday, June 1. Kickoff will be at 7:00 p.m. ET. Tickets for the match are on sale now at www.MiamiFC.com.
For the full season schedule, go to miamifc.com/2024-schedule.
CBS News Miami is the official broadcast partner for Miami FC. This story was reprinted with permission from Miami FC.