The Cosmos had an early corner in the 2nd minute, but the Oaks’ defense got an initial clearance. The corner came after a defensive cross-up for NCFC that brought Brian Sylvestre off his line and forced Christian Ibeagha to head the ball out of danger.

The Oaks struggled early with midfield possession, turning the ball over three times in the first five minutes of the game.

TIyi Shipalane had the first opportunity on offense for NCFC, but couldn’t turn with the ball inside the 18-yard mark in the 6th minute.

Sylvestre continued to be tested early as the New York’s offensive attack continued to pepper the penalty area.

In the 11th minute, North Carolina FC’s offense found some life when Matt Fondy chested down a pass and drove in on goal. His shot, contested, went just wide. Shipalane had another opportunity, but failed to connect.

On the counter attack, New York had numbers and found Walter Restrepo streaking down the right side. After getting the pass, Restrepo cut back around Conner Tobin, but slipped in the box to miss out on a 1-on-1 with Sylvestre and keep the Oaks’ out of danger.

Fondy and Nazmi Albadawi teamed up for a counter attack in the 26th minute. The Cosmos’ defense was caught flat-footed as Fondy moved up the left side into the 18-yard mark. He found Albadawi who was stripped from behind allowing New York to clear the ball.

In the 31st minute, Guerra had a wide-open look at the net when he received a cross from Restrepo, but sailed the ball well over the goal and out of play.

New York maintained dominance of possession around the Oaks’ area, but were unable to connect. On the other side of the ball, North Carolina FC couldn’t capitalize on a virtually open back-half of the field as the Cosmos kept most players up on offense.

The Oaks didn’t have a solid offensive set until extra time of the first half when a corner bounced to the head of Bolu Akinyode and out of play.

In the first half, the Cosmos managed possession for just over 56 percent of the half and outshot the Oaks 5–3. The NCFC defense was kept on its toes with 10 clearances in the half.

NCFC opened the second half with similar offensive pressure to what the Cosmos’ utilized in the first half. Albadawi had a strong shot on goal in the 46th minute that barely missed goal as the Oaks pressed early.

Ayoze Garcia Pérez had an opportunity for New York after the Oaks turned the ball over in midfield for the second consecutive possession. But, Ayoze’s shot was blocked off by Sylvestre in the 50th minute. Irvin Herrera had a follow-up attempt in the 51st minute that Sylvestre put his body in front of. But, it was Guerra that found the back of the net in the 52nd minute after Sylvestre fended off three previous attempts, giving the Cosmos a 1–0 lead.

In the 61st minute, Billy Schuler came off the bench for the Oaks, allowing NCFC to switch up their formation — putting two forwards up top with Fondy and Schuler in a 4–4–2 — which led to a pair of opportunities that were close to the mark.

Andrés Flores took a shot from distance in the 74th minute for New York that bounced down off the crossbar, but out of play.

In the 79th minute, Albadawi had a second solid attempt on goal, getting a feed from Fondy at the top of the box, but the attempt went just wide right of goal.

Schuler took a long ball on the left side and fed in to a sliding Fondy in the 83rd minute, but the ball was just out of reach for Fondy. The Oaks couldn’t connect on a subsequent corner that Laing put right in front of goal in the 84th minute.

Highlights

Line-ups

North Carolina FC (4–2–3–1): Sylvestre (GK), Ibeagha, Tobin, Miller, Marcelin, Akinyode, Liang, Da Luz, Shipalane, Albadawi, Fondy. SUBS: Schuler, Fortune, Ruhaak, S. Robinson, Shriver, M. Robinson, Moses.

New York Cosmos (4–1–4–1): Holt (GK), Richter, Mendes, Mulligan, Jakovic, Márquez, Ayoze, Restrepo, Guerra, Flores, Herrera. SUBS: Szetela, Starikov, Calvillo, Ochieng, Maurer, Barnes, Menjivar.

Cautions

Daniel Szetela (NYC) 75’, Brian Holt (NYC) 80’, Andres Flores (NYC) 90’+.

Up Next

The Cosmos will return home to MCU Park to take on FC Edmonton on June 7. Three days later, New York will host North Carolina FC for the second and final time of the season.

The Oaks are off until that June 10 meeting in New York, a much needed week of rest. North Carolina FC will then host the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer in the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup at 7:30 p.m on Wednesday, June 14th.