Lexington Sporting Club began its second pro season with a home match. How did LSC fare?

Lexington Sporting Club’s second professional season began Saturday night with a draw.

In its first match of the season in USL League One (the third tier of American men’s professional soccer), LSC played Northern Colorado Hailstorm to a scoreless draw at Toyota Stadium in Georgetown in front of a reported crowd of 1,273 fans.

LSC held more than 61% of the possession in Saturday’s match but only managed to direct one shot on target out of eight total shot attempts.

The closest LSC came to scoring was in the 81st minute when new signee Cameron Lancaster sent a free kick from 20 yards out crashing against the right post. Fellow attacker Pierre Mané was unable to redirect the rebound from that shot into a vacant net.

Goalkeeper Amal Knight made three saves as part of his shutout performance, which marks the fifth clean sheet he’s kept for LSC (including the 2023 season).

Among his stops was a stoppage time save in which Knight dove low to his left to make sure LSC took a point from its season opener.

Saturday also marked the LSC managerial debut of Darren Powell, a 51-year-old Englishman who was appointed head coach in November.

“When they were called upon the back four was pretty well organized. Amal made the saves when he was called upon,” Powell said postgame of the LSC defensive effort. “Most of their chances came directly from set pieces so one thing we need to improve upon is not giving away fouls... We just need to make sure we don’t make fouls that aren’t necessary at that moment, but the defense, all-in-all, was strong and protected the goal.”

“Definitely confidence from that. Obviously there’s some chances that we’d like to put away, but a clean sheet in the first game – no goals at home – I think that makes a real statement across the league,” added defender Kaelon Fox, who played college soccer at Kentucky and was the club’s first-ever signing last year.

Last year during its inaugural season, Lexington Sporting also played to a 0-0 draw in its first home match at Toyota Stadium.

Saturday’s match was the start of the 22-match USL League One regular-season schedule for LSC. The regular season runs until Oct. 26.

Also this season, LSC will play in a newly created, in-season competition that will involve all 12 USL League One teams.

Lexington Sporting also has an upcoming match in the first round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in the United States.

Next match

Chattanooga Red Wolves SC at Lexington Sporting Club

When: 7 p.m. Friday

Where: Toyota Stadium in Georgetown

Records: Chattanooga 0-0-0, Lexington 0-0-1

Live video stream: ESPN+

Tickets: www.lexsporting.com/tickets

‘We will be playing in August.’ Lexington Sporting Club updates progress on new stadium.

He’s Louisville City’s all-time leading scorer. Now, he’s with Lexington Sporting Club.

Five things to watch as Lexington Sporting Club begins its second season in USL League One