On a historic night at the M. Douglass Crater Stadium, big announcements were made and matches were played. Starting off strong at 6 PM, the club announced its biggest move since its founding in 2023 with the news of the team going to the professional ranks in 2028. With sponsors and the city’s biggest dignitaries in attendance, head coach Will Lennie and club stakeholder Chris Barnhart, took to the field with the news. 

The night’s events started at 4 PM with a dominant performance from City’s USL Academy team, who earned a 5-1 victory over North Carolina FC’s academy squad. Not long after, the club’s biggest contributors arrived on the scene with dinner and refreshments in the lobby. In a club driven by community, the attendance of benefactors and city representatives meant the world to the organization. City’s move to the professional ranks would not be possible without the support of sponsors and the community who continue to show up for the club. The excitement was evident all throughout the stadium as Winston-Salem looks forward to the next era of professional sports in our backyard. 

With the stadium still reeling from the club’s big announcement, the USL 2 team took to the pitch against the eighth-ranked team in the division, North Carolina FC U23 squad. While the first half remained scoreless, good chances were had on goal on both sides. 

A new addition to City’s lineup, Travis Smith Jr. made his club debut in the back right. Joined by Sasha Rabala, Hubert Deragon, and Noah Vasilev, these four kept NCFC’s shots to a minimum in the first half. 

With a slight switch-up in the midfield, Fynn Mewes moved back from his typical striker position, while Joao Catafesta, and Raul Canas looked strong in their usual spots. Waiting at the top was Linnus Musielak, Tate Lorentz, and Cameron Letterlough. This speedy trio proved dangerous with good runs while looking for the long ball from the back line.

Despite NCFC controlling the first five minutes of the match, City got into their rhythm and started to create more chances in front of the net. However, several offsides calls prevented long balls behind NCFC’s defensive line. Back in goal was Ben Diffley who proved essential to the squad with several key saves. 

The German pair of Musielak and Mewes looked dangerous in the first half with numerous connections in the box for either a wide or high shot on goal. Canas also shined in the middle with quality tackles and turns when pressed by the opposition, greatly helping the squad in transition. 

With halftime closing in, NCFC won the scuffle in the box for a goal in the 42nd minute. Now going into the locker room down a goal, the squad looked for more opportunities and played with intention in the second half. 

That intention paid off quickly as Canas headed one into the goal following a corner kick in the 48th minute. For the next thirty minutes the teams went back and forth with quality opportunities on each other’s respective halves. 

Now with less than twenty minutes left in regulation, a penalty kick was called for City, but resulted in a missed shot by Letterlough. Less than a minute later, NCFC earned a PK, with the rebound from Aidan Payne scoring to make it 2-1 in favor of NCFC. Another mistake in the box saw NCFC make it 3-1 in the 83rd minute. 

Despite being down for the second time in the match, City bounced back less than ten minutes later with a redemption shot by Letterlough to make the score 3-2. From there, fans saw the squad get a wave of energy that resulted in several close calls in the box. 

Even with City’s newfound energy, NCFC took the win on Saturday night with a final score of 3-2. Now with a 2-1-3 record on the season, City will take on a three game road stand against previously played Appalachian FC and NCFC before taking a trip down to Charlotte to face the number one team, Charlotte Independence 2.