By james art 
October 24, 2024 – United Soccer League (USL) Championship
North Carolina FC News Release
CAREY, NC – FC North Carolina hosts FC Las Vegas Lights at WakeMed Soccer Park on Saturday at 7:00 PM ET in a regular season finale with major playoff implications for NCFC. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
Heading into the final weekend of the 2024 USL Championship regular season, NCFC sits just above the playoff line in eighth place in the Eastern Conference with 45 points. NCFC will clinch a spot in the postseason with a win. Both a loss and a draw would require favorable results in other games on Saturday night.
Other Eastern Conference games with potential playoff implications for NCFC include Charleston Battery vs. Loudoun United (42 points), Pittsburgh Riverhounds (45 points) vs. El Paso Locomotive, Oakland Roots SC vs. Birmingham Legion (42 points), Orange County vs. Hartford Athletic (44 points) and Tampa Bay Rowdies (47 points) against Indy Eleven. Both Birmingham and Hartford are away against their Western Conference opponents and will kick off at 10:00 PM ET on Saturday.
NCFC cruised to a decisive 2-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rowdies in a game moved to WakeMed Soccer Park due to the impact of the recent hurricanes in Week 33. Alex Anderson and Evan Conway scored the goals, with Anderson’s goal moving him into a tie with Brian Shriver as the top scorer in team career in all competitions with 35 goals.
Las Vegas has already qualified for the playoffs and is second in the Western Conference with a 13-9-11 record and 50 points, but just two points separate the lights from fifth-place Memphis 901 FC heading into the final game.
The Lights’ offense runs through Corey Bennett and Valentine Noel, who have combined for 23 goals this season. The NCFC faithful will be familiar with Bennett, who spent the past two seasons with USL1 side Charlotte Independence and started for the cross-state rivals in last year’s league championship game.
Bennett is far from the only familiar face on the Las Vegas roster, with former NCFC Academy goalkeeper George Marks joining the team on loan from MLS’ Charlotte FC and former NCFC midfielder Dre Fortune signing for the team midway through the season.
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