Lexington Sporting Club (LSC) hosted Southern Indiana FC (SIFC) at Lexington SC Stadium last night in the First Round of the 2025 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. The match marked Lexington’s first-ever home Open Cup match and Southern Indiana’s first time appearing in the post-amateur qualifying rounds. The final score would be heavily in the host’s favor, as Lexington cruised away with a 5-0 victory over Southern Indiana.
Southern Indiana FC, the 2024 Fall season champion of the KY-TN Conference in the United Premier Soccer League (UPSL), did their best to hang with Lexington SC, managing to have 3 chances early within Lexington’s box in the first 10 minutes and getting 2 shots on goal in the 2nd half. Still, the boys in teal largely maintained a deep low block, allowing Lexington to control the ball in their defensive zone, trying their best not to let the floodgates open up fully.
On the other side Lexington SC, now competing in the USL Championship after spending the last 2 seasons in USL League One, showcased their championship-level talent from start to finish and dominated all aspects of the game. Lexington controlled the ball the entire game with 82% of the possession in addition to completing 799 passes compared to SIFC’s 173. They consistently shut down Southern Indiana’s momentum. They cut deep into SIFC’s zone all game long, creating multiple chances in Southern Indiana’s penalty box (40 touches total in that area), with 6 big chances created and 8 corners taken on the night.
Regarding the victory, Eliot Goldthorp, who picked up a goal and assisted on the night, said about the historic win for Lexington:
“It’s special. It’s the first year for us in the USL Championship as well and we’ve come in and we’ve set goals that we want,” Goldthorpe said after the match. “We want to win trophies this year. We don’t want to be a team that’s going to build for a couple of years and then wait to win stuff. We want to win right off the bat. I think we inspired fans tonight and we played really well.”
The result propels Lexington Sporting Club into the second round, with a handful of local opponents possibly on the table again, which could make for an exciting match.