HIGH POINT, NC (MAY 16, 2026) - On Star Wars Night at Truist Point Stadium, the Force was with the Core as they earned their first win of the season in a 2-1 comeback victory over Chicago Fire FC II.
The Core continued their trend of starting matches aggressively, putting the Fire on the back foot with multiple chances from talisman Arnaud Tattevin in the first thirty minutes of action. Despite the Core's best efforts, it was the visitors who opened the scoring. In the 40th minute, Chicago found their opener through a Darrius Hyte goal, giving them a 1-0 lead and the momentum heading into halftime.
The second half, however, held a different story for the Core, with a new face driving the comeback charge. Halftime substitute Corey Lundeen, making his season debut for the Core, made an instant impact to completely flip the match on its head.
Just minutes into the second half, Lundeen delivered a beautiful corner kick to the head of Tim Zeegers, who fired home the equalizer in the 49th minute. Moments later, Lundeen turned provider once again, threading a perfect ball to Mohamed Diakite, who slotted it past the Chicago goalkeeper to give the Core a 2-1 lead.
Lundeen, making his season debut, proved to be the spark the Core needed, earning two assists in his first ten minutes of action.
The tide shifted again, however, with the Core finding themselves on the wrong side of the referee's whistle. In the 57th minute, Jair Caiza saw red, leaving the squad a man down for the remainder of the match.
Despite having ten men on the pitch for over half an hour of action, the Core showed resilience. Through stellar defending, last-ditch efforts, and quality hold-up play, the Core saw out a 2-1 result, earning their first victory of the MLS NEXT Pro season.
The Core will look to replicate tonight's performance in their next outing on the road against Chattanooga FC on Sunday, May 24.
MATCH DETAILS
Date: May 16, 2026
Competition:Â MLS NEXT Pro
Venue: Truist Point Stadium | High Point, NC
Kickoff: 6.00 p.m. ET
Weather: 80 degrees, Sunny
SCORING SUMMARY
FT 2-1Â
CHIÂ - 40' Hyte
CCFC - 49' Zeegers
CCFC - 54' Diakite
LINEUPS
CCFC: Nick Holliday; Nelson Martinez, Santiago Yepes, Mohamed Diakite, Jair Caiza; Tim Zeegers (90' + 1' Grayson Rockhill), Robinson Aguirre (46' Ricardo Montenegro), Medhi Zerkane (35' David Diaz); Thomas Raimbault (46' Corey Lundeen), Arnaud Tattevin (80' Alenga Charles), Anthony Sumo Jr. (62' Dominique Colon)
Substitutes not used:Â Trevor Jackson, Antonio Pineda, Dyllan John
Chicago Fire FC II: Jason Nemo Jr; Damian Nigg, Cupps, Hugo Berg, Emiliano Chavez (69' Damyan Villanueva); Oscar Pineda, Chase Nagle; Darris Hyte, Robert Turdean (80' Mateo Clark), Vitaliy Hlyut (61' Milan Napoe); Dean Boltz (61' Tidiane Diawara)
Substitutes not used: Omar González, Owen Pratt
STATS SUMMARY
CCFC / CHI
Shots: 13 / 13
Shots on Goal: 5 / 6
Saves: 0 / 0
Corners: 6 / 13
Possession: 50% / 50%
Fouls: 8 / 10
Yellow Cards: 1 / 3
Red Cards: 1 / 0
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
CCFC - 32' Medhi Zerkane (Yellow)
CHI - 45' Hugo Berg (Yellow)
CCFC - 54'Â Jair Caiza (Red)
CHI -Â 72' CHI Bench (Yellow)
CHI - 82' Darris Hyte (Yellow)
CCFC -Â 90' + 6' Nick Holliday (Yellow)
