2023 Lexington SC season

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Lexington SC

2023 season
2023 Toyota Stadium - LSC v. One Knox
President	Bill and Donna Shively Stephen Dawahare Carter Carnegie
Manager	Sam Stockley and Nacho Novo (interim)
Stadium	Toyota Stadium Georgetown, Kentucky
USL Championship	9th
USL1 playoffs	Did not qualify
U.S. Open Cup	Round 2
Top goalscorer	Ates Diouf (15)
Highest home attendance	3,029 (04/08 vs. Forward Madison FC)
Lowest home attendance	1,911 (9/17 vs. Charlotte Independence)
Average home league attendance	2232
Biggest win	LSC 3–0 OMA (7/22)
Biggest defeat	TOR 5–1 LSC (7/02)
Home colours Away colours Third colours
2024 →

The 2023 Lexington SC season was the club's first season since their establishment on October 5, 2021.^[1] The club made its league debut in the USL League One as well as its domestic cup debut in the U.S. Open Cup.

On October 5, 2021, the United Soccer League announced that Tower Hill Sports had been granted a USL League One expansion team in Lexington to start play in the 2023 season.^[1] Tentatively named "Lexington Pro Soccer," the team revealed its official colors, crest, and branding as Lexington Sporting Club on March 22, 2022.^[2] The club named Sporting Director Sam Stockley as the club's first ever head coach on October 13, 2022.^[3] Following this announcement, the team announced that Warren Goodhind would be joining the coaching staff as the First Assistant Coach on October 18, 2022. On November 15, the team announced that Rangers F.C. legend Nacho Novo would be joining the coaching staff as an assistant coach and head coach of the U-23 squad.^[4] Connor Talbot was appointed the Head of Goalkeeping and the goalkeeping coach for the squad in September 2022.^[5]

In the afternoon of September 17, before their matchup against the Charlotte Independence, the club announced that head coach Sam Stockley would be stepping down from his role to focus on being the club's sporting director full-time. Nacho Novo was promoted to interim manager for the remaining 5 matches. The club's president Vince Gabbert, was quoted as saying the following about the move -

“With our youth academy continuing to grow and permanent facilities coming to fruition, the Sporting Director role will require Sam’s full attention for the long-term success of this club,” Gabbert said. “Our original plan was for Sam’s dual role as Head Coach and Sporting Director to be short-term. Sam has been an integral part of the formation of Lexington SC and one of its centerpieces since the beginning. We can’t thank him enough for putting this club on the path to success.”^[6]

Squad No.	Name	Nationality	Date of birth (age)
Goalkeepers
1	Austin Causey		Aug 20, 2001 (21)
13	Amal Knight		Nov 19, 1993 (29)
44	Luke Phillips^		Oct 25, 2006 (16)
Defenders
2	Tate Robertson		May 31, 1997 (26)
3	Owen Green		Sep 9, 1998 (24)
4	Kimball Jackson		Aug 2, 2004 (18)
5	Kaelon Fox		May 31, 1995 (28)
17	Erick Ceja-Gonzalez		Sep 1, 2001 (21)
20	Diallo Irakoze		Feb 10, 2001 (22)
26	Cesar Murillo		Feb 16, 1996 (27)
33	Franky Martinez		Aug 9, 1995 (27)
57	Terique Mohammed		Jan 27, 2000 (23)
Midfielders
8	Charlie Machell (C)		Oct 25, 1994 (28)
10	Don Smart		Dec 2, 1987 (35)
11	Seo-In Kim "SoSo"		Apr 18, 1995 (28)
22	Phila Dlamini		Feb 26, 1999 (24)
25	Pierre Mané		Jun 16, 1998 (25)
32	Ates Diouf		Mar 24, 2000 (23)
Forwards
7	Jalen James		May 10, 2000 (23)
9	Will Baynham		Jun 13, 1997 (26)
14	Khalid Balogun		Jul 25, 1998 (24)
18	Drew Patterson		Apr 20, 2001 (22)
77	Nico Brown		Aug 11, 1998 (24)
80	Josh Head		Jan 6, 2004 (19)

^ - Lexington SC Academy Contract

Pos.	Player	Previous Club	Details	Date	Source
DF	Kaelon Fox	FC Tucson	Free Transfer	January 9, 2023	[7]
MF	Ates Diouf	San Antonio FC	Free Transfer	January 10, 2023	[8]
MF	Charlie Machell	FC Tucson	Free Transfer	January 10, 2023	[9]
GK	Amal Knight	Harbour View F.C.	Free Transfer	January 11, 2023	[10]
DF	Tate Robertson	Chattanooga FC	Free Transfer	January 12, 2023	[11]
FW	Will Baynham	Queen's Park F.C.	Free Transfer	January 12, 2023	[12]
DF	Owen Green	South Georgia Tormenta FC	Free Transfer	January 13, 2023	[13]
MF	Pierre Mané	Virginia Commonwealth Rams	Free Transfer	January 16, 2023	[14]
DF	Kimball Jackson	Xavier Musketeers	Free Transfer	January 17, 2023	[15]
FW	Khalid Balogun	Maryland Bobcats FC	Free Transfer	January 17, 2023	[16]
DF	Diallo Irakoze	Lexington SC Academy	Free Transfer	January 18, 2023	[17]
DF	Franky Martinez	Chattanooga FC	Free Transfer	January 18, 2023	[18]
MF	Phila Dlamini	Saginaw Valley State Cardinals	Free Transfer	January 19, 2023	[19]
FW	Nico Brown	Greenville Triumph SC	Free Transfer	January 20, 2023	[20]
MF	Seo-In Kim "SoSo"	Chicago House AC	Free Transfer	January 23, 2023	[21]
FW	Drew Patterson	Cal Poly Mustangs	Free Transfer	January 23, 2023	[22]
FW	Jalen James	Campbell Fighting Camels	Free Transfer	January 24, 2023	[23]
DF	Erick Ceja-Gonzalez	Reno United	Free Transfer	January 25, 2023	[24]
GK	Austin Causey	Richmond Kickers	Free Transfer	January 25, 2023	[25]
MF	Don Smart	Greenville Triumph SC	Free Transfer	January 26, 2023	[26]
DF	Terique Mohammed	FC Edmonton	Free Transfer	January 27, 2023	[27]
DF	Cesar Murillo	Forward Madison FC	Free Transfer	March 15, 2023	[28]
GK	Luke Phillips	Lexington SC Academy	Academy Contract	March 28, 2023	[29]
FW	Josh Head	FC Cincinnati 2	Free Transfer	August 29, 2023	[30]

Lexington SC played five preseason exhibition matches in preparation of their first season.^[31]

Chattanooga Red Wolves SC v Lexington SC

March 4, 2023 (2023-03-04)	Chattanooga Red Wolves SC	1–1	Lexington SC	East Ridge, Tennessee
4:30 pm EST	Trialist 1st half'	Report	Patterson 2nd half' (Robertson)	Stadium: CHI Memorial Stadium

^[32]

As a member of the USL League One, Lexington SC entered their first-ever Open Cup tournament in the 2nd round, with their Cup opener played on April 5, 2023. They opened the competition against USL Championship powerhouse Louisville City FC. The match was the first competitive match against a fellow professional club from the state of Kentucky for both teams.^[33] Fans of both sides named the in-state matchup "El Bluegrassico" inspired by soccer derbies from around the world.

Louisville City FC v Lexington SC

April 5 2nd	Louisville City FC	1–0	Lexington SC	Louisville, Kentucky
7:00 PM	Totsch 69' (DelPiccolo) DelPiccolo  71'	Report	Dlamini  39' Mohammed  67' James  80' Robertson  90+4'	Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 4,205 Referee: Nabil Bensalah

Place[34]	Pos.	No.	Name	USL1	USOC	Total
1	MF	32	Ates Diouf	15	0	15
2	FW	77	Nico Brown	8	0	8
3	MF	10	Don Smart	6	0	6
4	DF	2	Tate Robertson	4	0	4
4	FW	14	Khalid Balogun	4	0	4
6	DF	3	Owen Green	1	0	1
6	MF	22	Phila Dlamini	1	0	1
6	MF	25	Pierre Mané	1	0	1
6	FW	9	Will Baynham	1	0	1
6	MF	11	Seo-In Kim "SoSo"	1	0	1
6	DF	4	Kimball Jackson	1	0	1
Total				43	0	43

Place[34]	Pos.	No.	Name	USL1	USOC	Total
1	DF	2	Tate Robertson	8	0	8
2	MF	8	Charlie Machell	3	0	3
3	DF	57	Terique Mohammed	3	0	3
3	FW	14	Khalid Balogun	2	0	2
3	MF	22	Phila Dlamini	2	0	2
5	DF	3	Owen Green	1	0	1
5	MF	32	Ates Diouf	1	0	1
5	FW	77	Nico Brown	1	0	1
5	DF	26	Cesar Murillo	1	0	1
5	FW	7	Jalen James	1	0	1
Total				23	0	23

Place[34]	Pos.	No.	Name	USL1	USOC	Total
1	GK	13	Amal Knight	4	0	4
2	GK	1	Austin Causey	1	0	1
Total				5	0	5

No.[34]	Pos.	Name	USL		U.S. Open Cup		Total
5	DF	Kaelon Fox	6	1	0	0	6	1
32	MF	Ates Diouf	9	0	0	0	9	0
8	MF	Charlie Machell	8	0	0	0	8	0
13	GK	Amal Knight	3	0	0	0	3	0
2	DF	Tate Robertson	6	0	1	0	7	0
9	ST	Will Baynham	1	0	0	0	1	0
3	FW	Owen Green	10	0	0	0	10	0
25	MF	Pierre Mané	4	1	0	0	4	1
4	DF	Kimball Jackson	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	FW	Khalid Balogun	11	0	0	0	11	0
20	DF	Diallo Irakoze	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	MF	Phila Dlamini	6	0	1	0	7	0
77	FW	Nico Brown	8	0	0	0	8	0
11	MF	Seo-In Kim "SoSo"	3	0	0	0	3	0
18	FW	Drew Patterson	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	FW	Jalen James	1	0	1	0	2	0
17	DF	Erick Ceja-Gonzalez	4	0	0	0	4	0
1	GK	Austin Causey	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	MF	Don Smart	4	1	0	0	4	1
57	DF	Terique Mohammed	8	1	1	0	9	1
26	DF	Cesar Murillo	1	1	0	0	1	1
33	DF	Franky Martinez	1	0	0	0	1	0
44	GK	Luke Phillips	0	0	0	0	0	0
80	FW	Josh Head	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total			95	5	4	0	100	5