Lights FC’s season ends with an eventful 4-2 defeat

In its 2020 season finale, Las Vegas Lights FC lost 4-2 vs. Orange County SC in an eventful match at Cashman Field.

Key Stats

Three goals in ten minutes for OC. In the early minutes, both sides took turns pushing the action. Then, Chandler Hoffman scored a hat trick between the 17th minute and 27th minute.

29.2% shooting accuracy for Las Vegas. In the defeat, Lights FC actually outshot Orange County, 24-8. But, the Lights were only able to put seven of those efforts on target.

Three Brightest Lights

Raul Mendiola: Big-time performance from Mendiola in this one. He scored a brace, created three chances, and brought some great energy off the ball pressing the OC backline.

Junior Sandoval: He was busy in the midfield for the Lights, playing more of a holding role than he has in some recent matches. Sandoval completed 43/47 passes, made five tackles, and registered four shots.

Mobi Fehr: Playing out of position at center-back, Fehr performed well enough individually on defense and completed 67 passes on the night, also creating two chances.

Quick Kicks

  • None of Hoffman’s three goals were unstoppable, which is frustrating for Frank Yallop and his club. Being down 3-1 that early is a tough spot to bounce back from.
  • Rough night at the office for Jordan Murrell. His poor headed back pass set up Hoffman’s first goal, his foul awarded OC a late penalty, and he was sent off for violent conduct in stoppage time.
  • Lights FC’s Rashawn Dally and Bryan de la Fuente both had shots bang off the crossbar early in the second half.
  • Jose Carrera provided another assist off the bench for Lights FC. Nice energy and vision as a substitute.
  • OC’s Seth Casiple had the Abe Simpson GIF of appearances last night. He subbed on in the 67th minute, received a yellow card in the 68th minute, and saw a second yellow to end his evening in the 76th minute.
  • With Casiple sent off, the Lights had 15+ minutes to find an equalizer and had a fair shout for a penalty when Javan Torre was brought down while shooting late in regulation that wasn’t awarded. But, they couldn’t find the net.
  • Instead, Las Vegas went down another goal on the penalty in stoppage time.
  • While it wasn’t a win, the season finale certainly didn’t lack action for the couple of hundred fans in the stands at Cashman Field.

What’s Next?

An important offseason for Lights FC. They will need to hire a full-time manager and technical director and make some major roster decisions. Following the USL Championship Playoffs, I’ll have a breakdown of the roster performance from this season.

Carson A Merk

Reporting live from Sin City, I have covered both RGVFC and Las Vegas Lights FC since their inceptions. I also write profiles to highlight players from the NCAA to USL to NWSL and everywhere in between.