Ten days ago, Lexington SC beat the best team in the USL Championship 4-1 and looked like a club finally putting it together. Since then, it's lost twice, conceded four goals in each match, and watched a three-game league win streak disappear.
First came the Louisville City fixture on July 11 — the Commonwealth Cup and a Prinx Tires USL Cup knockout spot on the line. LSC actually started well, with Braudílio Rodrigues heading home off a corner in the 12th minute. Then it all went sideways fast: Louisville answered twice within six minutes, and Phillip Goodrum picked up a second yellow card and an early trip to the locker room. To their credit, a 10-man Lexington side didn't fold — Xavier Zengue leveled it right before the half off another Aaron Molloy assist. But Louisville pulled away again in the second half, and an own goal in the 73rd minute sealed a 4-2 loss that eliminated LSC from the Cup and handed Louisville the Commonwealth Cup for a second straight year. That's now six straight losses to their biggest rival.
Four days later, at home against New Mexico United, the collapse looked different — and more concerning. LSC had the better of the run of play late in the first half, generating good chances. Then a defender was whistled for handball on a free kick, New Mexico converted the penalty, and three minutes later they hit a 30-yard screamer to go up 2-0 at the break. Two more goals followed in the second half before Phillip Goodrum's deflected consolation made it 4-1. Two matches in a row now, LSC has conceded a season-high four goals — and both times, the response after going behind was the same: nothing.
That's the real story here. It's not that this team doesn't care — a 10-man side battling back to tie Louisville says otherwise. It's that once Lexington goes behind, whatever competitive edge got them the win over Tampa Bay evaporates. That's a discipline and game-management problem, not an effort problem, and it's the kind of thing that either gets fixed in training or keeps costing points.
Next up: Oakland Roots SC comes to Lexington SC Stadium on Wednesday, July 22. After the week this club just had, it's about as clean a bounce-back opportunity as they'll get.