MARCH 10, 2025 (LEXINGTON, KY) - The USL Championship returned to action this weekend, with 22 clubs playing their first matches of the 2025 campaign on Saturday.
Top three storylines from the busy opening matchday:
FEATURED MATCHUP: New Kids on the Block
Lexington SC vs Hartford Athletic
Lineups:
Lexington SC (4-2-3-1): 1 Ketterer; 6 Hafferty, 5 Burks, 14 Barbir, 24 Sargent; 80 Williams, 3 Djeffal; 8 Firmino (72 Rodrigues 72'), 28 Beer (37 Goldthorp 72'), 11 Epps (27 Gibert 90'); 17 Lancaster (22 Greene 81')
Head Coach: Terry Boss
Hartford Athletic (4-3-3): 77 Siaha; 2 Anderson, 4 Scarlett, 30 Diz (15 Farrell 56'), 19 Samadia; 17 Jimenez (6 Makangila 62'), 94 Hariston, 8 Moreira (10 Careaga 62'); 9 Dieng, 11 Ngalina, 7 Beckford (71 Edwards 86').
Head Coach: Brendan Burke
9' GOAL, LEXINGTON - Joe Hafferty
Lexington 1, Hartford 0.
79' GOAL, LEXINGTON - Eliot Goldthorp (Assist: Braudilio Rodrigues)
Lexington 2, Hartford 0.
The new kids on the block hosted their very first USL Championship match on Saturday against Hartford Athletic.
Against the classic 4-3-3 of Hartford, Lexington came out in a 4-2-3-1, with their leftback Kieran Sargent playing as a LW in possession - as the home team took on a 3-2-4-1 look with the ball.
"Kieran plays one of the most demanding roles. We ask him to defend as a fullback and we ask him to attack as a winger. It's not an easy position and he has more than exceeded our expectations coming in. We knew that he was a really good attacking player coming in and wanted to really challenge and say 'Hey, you've got to be a shutdown defender as well', and he's answered that bell in spades." - Terry Boss
After going up early thanks to a screamer from fullback Joe Hafferty, Lexington were able to double their lead with substitutes Braudilio Rodrigues and Eliot Goldthorp combining on the counter. When asked after the match about what the two substitutes were told by Terry Boss before coming on the pitch, goalscorer Goldthorp responded:
"Just go and win the game. See the game out. It's tough to trust guys coming on and keep to the same intensity when we've not started the game, but I thought we did that very well, me and Baud [Rodrigues], together. We've been playing with eachother in preseason - credit to Brau, he's been fantastic. We're beginning to learn what he wants and what I want, and thankfully he found me and I found him and thankfully we won the game together." - Eliot Goldthorp
2023 Eastern Conference Championship Rematch
Charleston Battery vs Louisville City FC
Highlights:
Lineups:
Charleston Battery (4-2-3-1): 56 Zamudio; 7 Blackstock (36 Conway 82'), 5 Archer (C) (23 Drack 89'), 16 Smith, 4 Allan (62 Dossantos 46'); 6 Molloy, 91 Landru; 80 Torres, 8 Ycaza (10 Rodriguez 63'), 19 Klein III (42 Martinez 46'); 25 Jennings
Head Coach: Ben Pirmann
Louisville City FC (3-4-3): 1 Las; 4 Totsch (C), 5 Ordonez, 32 Adams; 15 M. Perez (2 McFadden 67'), 17 Davila, 6 Duncan (31 Lambert 67'), 13 Dia; 9 Goodrum (23 Gleadle 89'), 25 Wilson (16 A. Perez 75'), 7 Serrano
Head Coach: Danny Cruz
First and second place in the Eastern Conference table in 2024 faced off to start 2025 in sunny Charleston, South Carolina at Patriot's Point. Both clubs saw their leading goalscorer from the prior season depart this winter - Wilson Harris (20 goals in '24) joined Israeli first-division club Maccabi Petah Tikva FC from Louisville in January, and 2024 USL Championship Player of the Year Nick Markanich (30 goals in '24) had his move to Spanish LaLiga2 side CD Castellon agreed to back in August 2024.
After a scoreless first half that saw each team record two shots on target, Louisville City opened the scoring with a Ray Serrano goal in the 53rd minute of the match. Juan David Torres responded for Charleston just 10 minutes later with a goal of his own.
Substitute Arturo Rodriguez drew a straight red for violent conduct in the 70th minute, leaving the home side to just 10 men - and Louisville took the lead again minutes later through Adrien Perez, as the vistors won in their second consecutive match at Patriot's Point and start the season with all three points.
Six Goal Classic in California
Orange County SC vs Oakland Roots SC
Highlights:
Lineups:
Orange County SC (4-4-2): 1 Shulter; 13 Guimaraes (8 Sylla 70'), 5 Brewitt, 2 Doody, 19 Partida (33 Miles 82'); 14 Hegardt (15 Molina 82'), 4 Benalcazar, 6 Scott, 23 Doghman; 7 Dunbar (10 Trager 69'), 9 Zubak (24 Barjolo 90')
Head Coach: Danny Stone
Oakland Roots SC (4-1-4-1): 1 McIntosh; 5 Riley (4 Margvelashvili 89'), 26 Mohamed, 33 Greene, 2 Njie; 6 Gomez; 45 Elmasnaouy (22 Johnson 57'), 12 Gibson, 10 Armenakas (48Saldana 89'), 14 Rasmussen (7 Prentice 57'); 11 Sinisterra (88 Alekseev 75')
Head Coach: Gavin Glinton
In-state rivals Orange County SC and Oakland Roots SC kicked off the 2025 season with a six goal thriller. Both teams were in the bottom half of goals scored in 2024, Orange County in 16th with 39 and Oakland Roots in 18th with 37 in the USL Championship regular season.
Featuring for Orange County was the midfield pairing of Kyle Scott and Nico Benalcazar, both who played in FC Cincinnati and FC Cincinnati 2 prior to their arrival in Orange County. Scott, the former Chelsea midfielder and Chelsea academy product, scored in stoppage time to seal the win for Orange County, while Benalcazar scored the third goal for Orange County early in the second half in his USL Championship debut.
Orange County went up 3-0 by the 53rd minute of the match, and it wasn't until the 72nd minute when substitute Wolfgang Prentice scored for Oakland Roots that gave the away team some life. Orange County and Oakland exchanged goals in second half stoppage time, and the hosts start off their 2025 season with all three points at home.
