Las Vegas Lights FC suffered a 6-0 defeat against the Charleston Battery on Saturday afternoon, as the top team in the Eastern Conference was helped ahead by forward Nick Markanich’s four goals. The Battery went into the halftime break up 4-0 and added another two goals in the second half to earn all three points and a clean sheet at home.
The Battery leapt out to an early lead when the forward Markanich found the back of the net after just four minutes. In possession in the final third, Charleston needed just three short passes to feed Markanich, who beat goalkeeper Raiko Arozarena with an unreachable finesse shot.
The hosts then doubled their lead in the 22nd minute when a defensive mistake by defender Gaoussou Samaké resulted in a short back pass that forced Arozarena to leave his goal. Markanich was quick to the ball at the top of the box, though, and found teammate Matt Myers with a pass that resulted in Myers slotting home into an empty net.
To add to the first half flurry of goals, Charleston added a third goal just a few minutes later when confusion near the top of the Las Vegas penalty area allowed room for Markanich to steal a chance and again fire into an empty net.
The visitors could not put a halt to Charleston’s attack, and found themselves in trouble again as Lights FC midfielder Jean-Claude Ngando was judged to have tripped and brought down Charleston midfielder Emilio Ycaza in the box, resulting in a penalty in the 36th minute.
Stepping up to the spot, Markanich converted from 12 yards out for a hat-trick inside 37 minutes as he beat Arozarena, who dove the correct way but could not get a hand on the ball to stop a fourth goal of the half.
The Lights came closest to finding a goal in the 39th minute when forward Riki Alba fought to get his head on the end of a cross from the right flank, but his header landed narrowly wide of the near post and out.
Just before the half, the Battery struck the woodwork as Myers had a shot with the outside of his boot tipped onto the outside of the post by Arozarena before the chance was eventually cleared.
Three minutes into the second half, the Battery added a fifth goal to their tally as another passing move in the attacking third resulted in Markanich curling a left-footed shot around Arozarena again for his fourth goal of the evening.
Charleston’s effectiveness on set pieces continued throughout the afternoon, with the Battery hitting the post and the woodwork within a minute of each other before the hour mark but without seeing one of those chances converted.
The sixth and final goal of the evening came via Charleston midfielder Aaron Molloy, who picked out the far corner with a swirling effort from outside the box that nestled into the top left side of the goal.
The result sees the Lights return to Las Vegas now where they will face New Mexico United on Saturday, May 4 at Cashman Field.
TRES CONCLUSIONES
Alba up top
Las Vegas forward Riki Alba was a bright spot in attack as he attempted to squirm his way around the Battery defense. He won his lone aerial duel of the day and created three shots, including an attempt in the first half that was a yard the wrong side of the post.
Aerial attack
Las Vegas did not hesitate to move the ball with 21 crosses to Charleston’s 8 across the match, while also completing 85.2 percent of the team’s nearly 600 passing attempts. The Lights also had a better passing percentage in the opponents’ half at 71.8 percent.
Stopping the skid
The Lights are now without a point in their last three league matches, two of which were on the road. They now have a chance to turn that around when they host New Mexico next Saturday at Cashman Field (7:30 p.m. PT; Stream on ESPN+ | TICKETS).
SCORING SUMMARY
CHS – Nicholas Markanich 4’ (Assist: Emilio Ycaza)
CHS – Matt Myers 22’ (Assist: Nicholas Markanich)
CHS – Nicholas Markanich 30’
CHS – Nicholas Markanich (p) 37’
CHS – Nicholas Markanich 49’ (Assist: Juan Torres)
CHS – Aaron Molloy 81’ (Assist: Mark Segbers)
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
LV – Raiko Arozarena (caution) 24’
LV – Charlie Adams (caution) 45+5’
LINEUPS AND STATS
Las Vegas Lights FC – Raiko Arozarena; Fabien Garcia, Emrah Klimenta (Hayden Sargis 81’), Joe Hafferty (Shawn Smart 58’), Gaoussou Samaké (Khori Bennett 58’); Solomon Asante (Gennaro Nigro 58’), Jean-Claude Ngando, Valentin Noël, Charlie Adams (Edison Azcona 66’); Coleman Gannon, Riki Alba (Joe Gyau 58’)
Substitutes not used: Nicholas Ammeter
Total shots: 8
Shots on goal: 1
Fouls: 18
Corner kicks: 5
Saves: 3
Charleston Battery – Adam Grinwis; Mark Segbers, Leland Archer, Graham Smith (Juan Sebastian Palma 78’), Nathan Dossantos; Aaron Molloy (Matthew Dean 84’), Chris Allan; Nicholas Markanich (Diego Gutiérrez 61’), Emilio Ycaza (Robbie Crawford 69’), Juan Torres (Jake LaCava 61’); Matt Myers (Josh Drack 69’)
Substitutes not used: Daniel Kuzemka, Bradyn Cobb, Charles Dennis
Total shots: 15
Shots on goal: 9
Fouls: 15
Corner kicks: 5
Saves: 1