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Cary, North Carolina – The Greenville Triumph moved to 3-0 on the 2021 season with a 2-1 victory over the new League One side,North Carolina FC on Saturday night. It was the third victory in as many matches for the defending champions and the second match in a row that both Marios Lomis and Lachlan McLean have netted a goal.

From the first whistle, it seemed like it would be a smooth match for the defending League One champs. Controlling the tempo in similar fashion as last weekend, Greenville came out to make a statement. Just nine minutes into the match, Andrew Booth earned a penalty kick that was converted by the reigning Player of the Week, Marios Lomis. 

With Greenville up 1-0, North Carolina FC pushed forward with more intent as the away team began to find success with the long ball. On the end of a tremendous ball that switched the point of attack and put Mohamed and Jaye in a difficult position, NCFC winger Selmir Miscic found himself in a 1-v-1 position with right back, Abdi Mohamed and loads of time on his hands. With a small stepover and a quality finish, NCFC tied the game at one prior to the half.

In a very patient game, both sides had moments of possession, moments of opportunity and moments of defensive brilliance throughout the first portion of the second half. In the 65th, it was Greenville who broke through on a Lachlan McLean header after a scramble in the box led to a Jesus Ibarra service from the left flank.

Around ten minutes after Greenville went up 2-1, defender Cesar Murillo came on for Lomis, and head coach John Harkes dropped his side into defending their lead. With four minutes of stoppage time, NCFC upped the pressure, but Greenville proved the quality of its defense as they held off a late shot and deflection in the 91st minute.

Triumph SC now sits at 9 points through three matches. The club will return to Triumph Stadium on May 16 as the host of League One’s first ever national telecast, as they take on Union Omaha at 4:00 pm on ESPN2.

TAMPA, Fla. – The United Soccer League (USL) announced today the schedule for the 2021 USL Academy Cup National Event, presented by PUMA. All three age divisions, U-13 Boys, U-17 Boys and U-17 Girls, will take the field on May 28 at the Hillsborough County Tournament SportsPlex to determine who will reign supreme among the best youth talent in the nation.

“As we gear up to take the field in less than a month, we are excited to watch the first-ever USL Academy Cup National Event come to life,” said Liam O’Connell, Technical Director of the USL. “This event will serve as a testament to the tremendous work being done by USL clubs across the country in developing local players and building pathways to pro soccer. Now that it is right around the corner, we are more prepared than ever to offer a first-in-class experience for our players and clubs as they compete to raise a USL Academy Cup National title.”

This year’s event will feature 76 teams representing 37 clubs from Major League Soccer, USL Championship, USL League One and USL League Two, with each age group split into two to three divisions. The Elite, Premier and Select Divisions will ensure competitive balance and maximize growth opportunities for each participating club. Among the 76 teams competing, the Triumph will have a team represented in both the boys U-13 and girls U-17 age groups.

“Looking at the competition structure of our first USL Academy Cup National Event, each team will compete in a World Cup style schedule,” said Ryan Spurr, USL Academy Operations Manager. “Teams will begin the tournament in groups of four, playing each team in their group once. From there, the top two teams from each divisions’ group stage will advance to that divisions’ respective final.”

The USL Academy Cup National Event is designed to help USL senior teams establish more defined pathways from their grassroots level to the first team. By design, the USL Academy offers its clubs three variations in which they can field a team to compete for the USL Academy Cup.

The first variation, which resembles the Academy structures of clubs such as the USL Championship’s Charlotte Independence and Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami CF, will see a club carry out the entire developmental pathway using the clubs branding throughout each level. For the most part, the club’s Academy Cup team will be directly formed from the ranks of youth talent within the club itself.

The second variation allows for USL clubs to affiliate with local youth clubs to form a team that will represent the senior club during the USL Academy Cup. This structure can be observed through Ironbound SC’s Academy Cup teams, who will represent the New York Red Bulls (NYRB) during the national event. The youth club is a long-time affiliate of NYRB, having aligned their player development practices with that of the Red Bull’s methodologies and having developed current pros and U.S. Men’s and Youth National Team players such as Tyler Adams and John Tolkin.

The third and final structure offers Academy Cup teams the option to create an all-star team based off of a “club and country model”. Teams such as USL Championship’s Orange County SC and League One’s Greenville Triumph SC utilize this variation to pull together a team of the best local talent from the region to represent the club during Academy Cup play. This structure also has the added benefit of allowing youth players to train with the Academy Cup team while also continuing training with their respective youth organizations.

The inaugural USL Academy Cup National Event aims to provide its players with more meaningful competition throughout the season and chances to be identified as quality players through scouting efforts. This year’s Academy Cup will offer players the chance to be scouted by college, professional and Youth National Team scouts as the USL looks to enhance its talent identification offerings for youth players through the use of virtual streaming and an increased network of scouts. Not only will the Academy Cup offer chances for these players to progress their game to the next level, it will also provide a platform for players to test their skills among the best youth talent in the nation.

View the 2021 Academy Cup National event schedule here.

Greenville, SC – Greenville’s dominant performance against North Texas on Saturday vaulted the defending title-winners to the top the table through four weeks of the season, and Greenville leads all clubs with five players represented in this week’s Team of the Week. Forward Marios Lomis earned Player of the Week honors after recording a pair of goals on his home debut for the club at Legacy Early College.

The Dutch striker scored Greenville’s first and third goals on the night, fueling Triumph SC to an impressive 4-0 win against North Texas SC. Lomis showed fantastic technique in scoring his opener with a backheel flick, while his second goal was a clever poked finish with the outside of his boot.

Dalls Jaye (GK) kept a second consecutive clean sheet to open the season, recording two saves. His distribution was also solid, with the Guam international completing 14 long passes.

Brandon Fricke (D) showed the skills that won him League One’s Defender of the Year award last season, contributing to a shutout performance at the back and providing the assist for Lomis’ opening goal.

Andrew Booth (M) scored Triumph SC’s second goal in some style, and made two tackles while passing at a 77 percent success rate.

Lachlan McLean (F) was back at it on Saturday night registering a goal and an assist, something Triumph SC fans are used to seeing from the Aussie by now.

The Greenville Triumph are back in action on Saturday, May 8 before returning to the Upstate on May 16 to host Union Omaha in the first- ever League One national telecast. Both matches will be aired locally on the CW62 with the May 16 match to be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.

Greenville, SC – The Greenville Triumph Soccer Club put on an offensive clinic in the club’s home opener Saturday night, winning 4-0 against North Texas. The electric atmosphere of a covid-capacity sellout was an immense boost for Greenville as the defending League champions saw three different goal scorers and three different players record an assist. It was only the second 4-goal performance in Triumph history, with the first also coming against North Texas back in 2019. 

Greenville wasted no time getting on the board when, just six minutes in, the Triumph was awarded a free kick outside the box. Aaron Walker’s delivery found the backside run of Brandon Fricke who redirected a header across the goal and into the run of Marios Lomis. It was a spectacular finish from the Dutch forward, and a finish that helped Greenville settle into the atmosphere of their first home match.

Passing patterns were evident all throughout the match tonight, one of which led to the team’s second goal. After switching the point of attack, Abdi Mohamed found the slashing run of Don Smart, who crossed a first-time pass back across the goal. His pass found Andrew Booth inside the box, whose one-time finish to the back post put the Triumph up 2-0.

Lomis proved his technical ability in front of goal during tonight’s match. His ability to find shot windows in tight spaces was what led to the third goal of the night after McLean found a seam through the North Texas backline. 

As the game pressed on, the chemistry in the Triumph attack only continued to improve. Runs were being timed properly, passing patterns were coming to life and players were bringing a level of efficiency to their delivery and their finishing. After recording his first assist, Lachlan McLean added his name to the score column for the first time this season when he found the end of a tremendous long ball from co-captain Tyler Polak. Running away from the face of goal with a player attached to his hip, the Aussie striker displayed exceptional skill to bury his shot low to the back post to give the Triumph their final goal of the night.

The frustration from North Texas began to show through in the second half, as the team off a 4-2 win last weekend could not stop the Triumph attack or connect in their own attacking third. Straight red cards were issued to North Texas during and after the match making for an intense last 15 minutes of action.

For Greenville, tonight, the adversity was continuing to play in a composed manner when the game got chippy and opposing players began to get frustrated. Per Head Coach, John Harkes, that’s what proves the character and quality of his team.

“We always talk about the character of our team and the maturity of our team. When things aren’t in our control, the way the game is called or the way the other team is playing, how will we react? We reacted to it tonight by playing our game and keeping our style of play in tact.”

The Greenville Triumph returns to action next Saturday against North Carolina FC before returning to Triumph Stadium on May 16 to face Union Omaha in the first ever nationally telecast League One Match. Fans can purchase tickets for the May 16 match by clicking here. 

Click here to learn about our post-match deals from our partners at Fins, Southern Culture and Papi’s Tacos.

Before our home opener, take a minute to catch up on the Greenville Triumph in the local news!

As we get closer to welcoming fans back to Triumph Stadium at Legacy Early College, we wanted to remind our fans and community members about a few key match day policies in place for the 2021 season. This interview, with Triumph SC Director of Stadium Operations Trey Kolak, is brought to you by Bravo 1 Protection services. Bravo1 Protection is Upstate South Carolina’s leading private security company specializing in hospitality-driven armed and unarmed services.

What services does Bravo1 Protection provide to the Triumph?

Bravo provides several different services for us during match days starting with security personnel and armed guards. For most fans, the Bravo1 staff are the first people you come into contact with as they perform bag checks and wanding upon your entrance into the stadium. They also provide security escorts for all players and the officials.

What type of positions do they cover inside Triumph Stadium at Legacy Early College?

Bravo personnel cover all Field-Level entrances and general Field-Level security points. They are also positioned in front of all “Player and Staff Only” entrances including home player locker rooms, away player locker rooms and the referee locker rooms. Bravo escorts teams and officials to and from these entrances as well. For fans specifically, they will most likely come into contact with Bravo1 Protection personnel at the stadium entrances.

Speaking of entrances and bag checks, what are fans allowed, or not allowed, to bring into Triumph Stadium?

Some key items not allowed into the stadium on a match day would be umbrellas, food and beverages, purses and strollers. We actually have an extensive A-Z guide on our website that will cover this question more extensively, but below are a few more common prohibited items on Triumph match day:

• cigarettes and e-cigarettes
• beach balls, noise makers, aerosol cans, plastic horns or whistles
• coolers and any food containers
• backpacks, luggage, camera bags, briefcases of any kind
• professional camera equipment
• launching objects and confetti
• fireworks and weapons
• pets (except for service animals)

What COVID-19 policies does Bravo1 help enforce throughout match day?

Bravo helps us emphasize the importance of mask-wearing throughout the stadium. They will not let you enter the gates without a mask, and they also ensure fans are keeping their masks on throughout the match. One other thing Bravo helps us with, in regards to COVID-19 policies specifically, is the social distancing aspect. Bravo personnel will make sure that fans are meeting the social distance requirements when standing in line for food, drinks, restrooms and other potentially high-traffic areas.

What has been the most impressionable to you regarding the Bravo company and their services?

Bravo has been an impressive and easy company to work with on several fronts. I’ve been most impressed with their professionalism and attitude. Their staff is always upbeat, kid-friendly and extremely respectful to both my staff and our fans. They preach punctuality which is essential to keeping our operation running on a smooth schedule.

The Triumph return home to Legacy Early College this Saturday, May 1 for a 7pm kickoff off against the 2019 USL League One Champions, North Texas SC. 

The Greenville Triumph and Joan Herlong & Associates are excited to welcome fans to participate in pick-up soccer games at the Triumph Stadium at Legacy Early College on select dates throughout the season.

For only $10, each person will receive access to the pick-up pitch, a GTSC t-shirt and a ticket to the Triumph match that evening.

Pick-up games run from 7:30am-9:00am, and each participate must sign a waiver prior to entering the stadium. Anyone under the age of 18 looking to play must have a parent or guardian sign a release form. 

Community Pick Up Soccer Dates:

May 1, May 16, July 10, July 17, August 7, August 22, September 11, September 19, October 16, October 23