One of three matches to kick off the 2024 season features league powerhouse Northern Colorado traveling to face a much hyped, new and improved Lexington side.
March 9th, 2024
Toyota Stadium
Georgetown, KY
Northern Colorado Powers Forward
Now in its third season, 2023 firmly established Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC as a top-tier club in the league. The side finished third, just one point short of the first-round playoff bye. The numbers were impressive: second in regular season goals, the fewest regular season goals allowed and the best goal differential. Playoffs saw a resounding home win over Forward Madison, followed by a road loss to eventual champion NCFC in the semi-final.
Led by Éamon Zayed, the side continues to attract top talent to Windsor, Colorado. With a shiny new stadium to boost the appeal, expectations are running high. However, like last season, Hailstorm will take an extended road trip to start the season, not debuting at Ticket Socket Park until May 25th.
Lexington’s Bold Rebuild
The first season didn’t end in a wooden spoon, but still fell 11 points shy of a playoff spot with a 9th place finish. In 2024, with a new stadium coming later in the season and a hot new kit released this week, Lexington is aiming for nothing short of the league title. Indeed, multiple outlets covering the league and the fans seems to have a consensus that 2024 is Lexington’s to lose.
Northern Colorado’s Off Season Moves
Hailstorm lost the services of golden boot winner Trevor Amann. He not only won the award for most goals in a season, but shattered the league record with an astounding 23 goals. This represents nearly 40% of the team’s 59 regular season goals. They also lost defender/midfielder Arthur Rogers, arguably one of the best players the league has ever seen. Rogers led the league in assists and chances created, so the loss of both is a huge loss in Hailstorm’s offense.
But is anyone is worried, it’s certainly not Zayed. The team acquired a slew of talent to fill in the gaps, including Chelo Martinez, a play-making midfielder who was a key part of Madison’s 2023 run. This provides multiple options in the midfield, with Billy King, Marky Hernandez, Danny Robles and Jackson Dietrich returning, and defensive midfielder Enoch Kwakwa also returning and ready to step in. We’re also hearing McCain Clarke is coming into his own for his second professional season.
Irvin Parra seems ready to go after a year largely spent recovering from cancer treatment, joined by league veteran striker Jake Keegan and league newcomers Real Gill, Patrick Langlois, and the newly professional Ethan Hoard.
Defensively, the core remains solid, despite the loss of Rogers and captain Rob Cornwall. Brecc Evans, Lucky Opara, Noah Powder and potential defender of the year candidate Bruno Rendón all return. They’re joined by USL Championship veteran Johnny Fenwick, NCFC playoff hero David Garcia. All of course backed up by one of the best goalkeepers in the league, Lalo Delgado.
Image credit Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC
Lexington’s Off Season Moves
After announcing the departure of 13 players, coach Darren Powell began a (presumably well-funded) rebuild. Returning: lead goal scorers Ates Diouf and Nico Brown; and their backup, Khalid Balogun. As if this wasn’t solid enough, they took things to the moon when they announced both Cameron Lancaster and Azaad Liadi. The former is an all-time leading goal-scorer from USL Championship, which one coach told us is the biggest signing the league has ever seen. The latter was the lead goal-scorer with Huntsville City in MLS Next Pro, and put up ten goals and 13 assists between two seasons with Tormenta FC in 2020 and 2021.
Also returning was playmaker Tate Robertson, who will now be flanked by Jayden Onen, and likely centered by Yannick Yankam. We know what to expect from Onen, after a solid season in Madison last year, so Yankam remains our wait-and-see factor here.
Defensively, some overhaul was needed after giving up 57 goals in 2023. Erick Ceja-Gonzales, Kaelon Fox and Kimball Jackson return, boosted by a group of USL Championship veterans. This includes Ebenezer Ackon, Jorge Corrales, and Modesto Mendez. But this wasn’t enough – the club also brought on rising star Anthony Patti from SD Albion, and Christian Lue Young from NCFC. They’ll continue to be backed by Jamaican National Team goalkeeper Amal Knight, himself backed by the returning Austin Causey and newcomer Nico Campuzano.
Image credit Lexington SC
Head to Head
Lexington may well win the league with the amount of talent they brought in. But like NCFC in 2023, it’s probably going to start slow while they adjust to all the new players. Therefore, we’re leaning towards Northern Colorado’s early season road magic here and calling a 2-1 Hailstorm win.