# 2019 North Carolina FC season

The 2019 North Carolina FC season was the club's 13th season of existence. The 2018 season was the club's first in the USL, having left the NASL at the end of the 2017 season. For the fourth time in history and the first time since 2009, North Carolina won the 2018 Southern Derby, a fan-based U.S. professional soccer cup competition between North Carolina, Charleston Battery, and Charlotte Independence. North Carolina finished the regular season in 9th place with 47 points, missing out on the playoffs by 2 points to Nashville. The 2019 season was the first under new coach Dave Sarachan who replaced Colin Clarke.

## Club
### Coaching staff

| Position | Staff |
| Head coach | Dave Sarachan |
| Assistant coach | John Bradford |
| Assistant coach | Clint Peay |
| Assistant coach | Nic Platter |

### Roster

| No. | Position | Player | Nation |
| 1 | GK | Alex Tabakis | Greece |
| 2 | DF | Manny Perez (on loan from Celtic) | United States |
| 3 | DF | Sam Brotherton | New Zealand |
| 4 | MF | Victor Igbekoyi | Nigeria |
| 5 | MF | Duval Wapiwo (on loan from MFK Vyškov) | Cameroon |
| 6 | MF | Austin da Luz | United States |
| 7 | FW | Donovan Ewolo (on loan from MFK Vyškov) | Cameroon |
| 8 | MF | Dre Fortune | Trinidad and Tobago |
| 9 | FW | Marios Lomis | Netherlands |
| 10 | MF | Ben Speas (on loan from Indy Eleven) | United States |
| 11 | FW | Yamikani Chester (on loan from MFK Vyškov) | Malawi |
| 12 | MF | Austin Panchot | United States |
| 14 | DF | Colton Storm | United States |
| 15 | FW | Justin Rennicks (on loan from New England Revolution) | United States |
| 16 | MF | Graham Smith | United States |
| 17 | DF | Timmy Mehl | United States |
| 18 | FW | Robert Kristo | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| 20 | MF | Ryan Spaulding | United States |
| 21 | MF | Nazmi Albadawi (on loan from FC Cincinnati) | Palestine |
| 22 | DF | Caleb Duvernay | United States |
| 23 | DF | Alex Comsia | Canada |
| 24 | GK | Darrin MacLeod | Canada |
| 27 | DF | D.J. Taylor | United States |
| 31 | MF | Steven Miller | United States |
| 33 | DF | Aarón Guillén | Mexico |
| 34 | MF | Colton Pleasants | United States |
| 35 | DF | Adam Armour | United States |
| 36 | GK | Trace Alphin | United States |
| 40 | GK | Ryan Cretens | United States |

## Competitions

Win  Draw  Loss

### USL Championship
#### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 5 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 34 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 61 | 33 | +28 | 58 | Conference Quarterfinals |
| 6 | New York Red Bulls II | 34 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 74 | 51 | +23 | 57 | Conference Quarterfinals |
| 7 | North Carolina FC | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 57 | 37 | +20 | 56 | Play-In Round |
| 8 | Ottawa Fury FC | 34 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 50 | 43 | +7 | 52 | Play-In Round |
| 9 | Charleston Battery | 34 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 44 | 44 | 0 | 46 | Play-In Round |

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| Stadium | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H |
| Result | W | W | D | D | L | W | W | D | L | D | W | D | W | W | D | W | D | L | W | L | W | L | W | W | W | L | L | D | L | L | W | W | L | W |
| Position | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |

#### Playoffs
### U.S. Open Cup

As a member of the USL Championship, North Carolina FC entered the tournament in the second round.
Schedule Source

## Squad statistics

Source: Match reports

### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | USL Championship Regular Season | USL Championship Regular Season | USL Championship Playoffs | USL Championship Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | U.S. Open Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | GRE | Alex Tambakis | 31 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | USA | Manny Perez | 23 | 0 | 12+8 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | NZL | Sam Brotherton | 33 | 3 | 31 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | NGA | Victor Igbekoyi | 13 | 0 | 9+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | MF | CMR | Duval Wapiwo | 7 | 0 | 2+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | USA | Austin da Luz | 18 | 2 | 9+8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | CMR | Donovan Ewolo | 34 | 8 | 25+5 | 8 | 0+1 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | TRI | Dre Fortune | 30 | 9 | 23+3 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 9 | FW | NED | Marios Lomis | 14 | 6 | 11+2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | USA | Ben Speas | 29 | 2 | 27 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | MWI | Yamikani Chester | 24 | 6 | 9+12 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1+2 | 1 |
| 12 | MF | USA | Austin Panchot | 7 | 0 | 2+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 14 | DF | USA | Colton Storm | 2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | USA | Justin Rennicks | 10 | 0 | 3+7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | USA | Graham Smith | 32 | 0 | 19+9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 17 | DF | USA | Timmy Mehl | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | BIH | Robert Kristo | 28 | 11 | 7+18 | 9 | 0+1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 21 | MF | PLE | Nazmi Albadawi | 20 | 4 | 16+2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | USA | Caleb Duvernay | 17 | 0 | 9+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | CAN | Alex Comsia | 29 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 24 | GK | CAN | Darrin MacLeod | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | USA | Tommy McCabe | 10 | 2 | 8+1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | USA | D.J. Taylor | 37 | 1 | 32+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2+1 | 1 |
| 31 | MF | USA | Steven Miller | 35 | 9 | 26+6 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 33 | DF | MEX | Aarón Guillén | 35 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |

### Goal scorers

| Place | Position | Nation | Number | Name | USL Championship Regular Season | USL Championship Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | Total |
| 1 | FW | | 18 | Robert Kristo | 9 | 0 | 2 | 11 |
| 2 | MF | | 31 | Steven Miller | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 2 | MF | | 8 | Dre Fortune | 7 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| 4 | FW | | 7 | Donovan Ewolo | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 5 | FW | | 9 | Marios Lomis | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 5 | FW | | 11 | Yamikani Chester | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 7 | MF | | 21 | Nazmi Albadawi | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 | DF | | 3 | Sam Brotherton | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 | FW | | 26 | Tommy McCabe | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | FW | | 10 | Ben Speas | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | MF | | 6 | Austin da Luz | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | DF | | 27 | D. J. Taylor | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Own goals by opponent | Own goals by opponent | Own goals by opponent | Own goals by opponent | Own goals by opponent | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 57 | 2 | 5 | 64 |

### Disciplinary record

| Number | Nation | Position | Name | USL Championship Regular Season | USL Championship Regular Season | USL Championship Playoffs | USL Championship Playoffs | U.S. Open Cup | U.S. Open Cup | Total | Total |
| 8 | | MF | Dre Fortune | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 3 | | DF | Sam Brotherton | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 31 | | DF | Aarón Guillén | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 5 | | MF | Duval Wapiwo | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 23 | | DF | Alex Comsia | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 21 | | MF | Nazmi Albadawi | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 16 | | MF | Graham Smith | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 6 | | MF | Austin da Luz | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 27 | | DF | D.J. Taylor | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 11 | | FW | Yamikani Chester | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 31 | | MF | Steven Miller | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 18 | | FW | Robert Kristo | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 7 | | FW | Donovan Ewolo | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | | MF | Ben Speas | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | | DF | Colton Storm | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | | DF | Manny Perez | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | | MF | Tommy McCabe | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 | | DF | Timmy Mehl | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 43 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 51 | 2 |