A scoreless first half and a four-goal second half resulted in another point for North Carolina FC, as a 46th minute strike from Nazmi Albadawi opened the scoring and a late goal from Renan Gorne brought the boys level before the final whistle in Cary.

While the first half of the contest was rather uneventful, North Carolina FC did outshoot New York 5–0, putting two shots on goal. That aggression carried over immediately into the second half as Nazmi Albadawi received a lovely through ball from Dre Fortune and then blasted the ball into the roof of the net, giving North Carolina FC a 1–0 lead just 56 seconds into the second half.

The goal was Albadawi’s second of the year and a celebration of his 100th match in NASL. Dre Fortune collected his first assist of the season.

But the Cosmos found an equalizer just on the stroke of the hour mark as Andres Flores scored off of a beautiful chip pass from New York’s Ayoze.

The Cosmos would strike again just 12 minutes later as Eugene Starikov would not give up after losing the ball at the top of the box. The Cosmos forward fought aggressively to get the ball back from Connor Tobin and calmly passed the ball into the back of the net, giving the Cosmos a 2–1 lead with just under 20 minutes to go.

Neither Cosmos goal was well-received by the supporters of Oak City, as refereeing questions became the theme of the night across the Carolina soccer scene.

But North Carolina FC continued to press harder and harder as the clocked ticked to the 90th minute. Just before the fourth official was about to signal how much stoppage time was to be added, Renan Gorne decided to put on the cape and save a valuable point for North Carolina FC.

Albadawi looked to get his second goal of the game but the shot was saved by Maurer. The ball then rolled across the goal frame and Gorne was there to send the ball into the back of net, sending New York back to the Big Apple with just a point.

It was Gorne’s first goal for North Carolina FC in only his second start for the club. Gorne made his first appearance with the club back on August 15 in a 1–0 loss to Miami FC.

This is the fourth draw of the fall season for North Carolina FC, keeping them at fourth for the time being and with a record of 1–4–1. Overall, North Carolina FC is fifth, trailing Jacksonville Armada FC by a point and with a record of 7–7–8.

Only four points separate second from fifth in the overall NASL standings. There is still plenty of season left to play.

North Carolina FC’s next matchup is on September 2nd at WakeMed Soccer Park as they take on FC Edmonton at 7:30 PM. Carolina split the spring season series with Edmonton, defeating them 3–1 back on April 15th at WakeMed Soccer Park and then falling in Edmonton on July 7th, 2–1.