SC United Bantams cruise to 4-0 USL W league win
Manning brace provides early advantage and late insurance in shutout win
The South Carolina United Bantams continued their winning ways Saturday night in their home opener dropping the visiting NC Fusion 4-0. The Bantams are now a perfect 3-0 to open their 2025 USL W League season and have scored eight goals allowing just one goal over these first three games.
Ana Manning scored the first goal of the night just two minutes in as she fired the ball through a crowded goal mouth for the early Bantams advantage. In the 15th minute, the Bantams found the nets again after a corner kick was headed clear by the NC Fusion inside a crowded goal box. The Bantams were first to the ball and Marin White headed the ball back into the goal mouth where Autum Cayelli flicked the ball up and over a crowd of Fusion defenders for the 2-0 lead. The score line stayed the same up to the half.
The Bantams turned up the pressure after the break and scored two additional goals to put the game out of reach eary in the second half. Lena Dykes scored in the 56th minute and Ana Manning completed her brace in the 66th minute to see the hosts cruise to the shutout win. Both goals came from sustained pressure on the Fusion goal as sell as quick passing sequences to move the ball to the free runners in the final third for the finish.
The NC Fusion just couldn’t control the midfield or deal with the Bantams pressure that constantly caused headaches and turnovers for the visitors all evening long.
Jaddah Foos earned the shutout in the goal for the Bantams bringing her minutes played to 272 minutes with 9 saves on the season with two clean sheets.
“We’re super happy with the result tonight,” said Bantams Head Coach Khalil Abderahman. “We won our first two games and both of those were a bit of a grind, we had to defend quite a lot…so the message before the game to the girls was ‘let’s have a game where we dominate a little bit more in possession, where we control the game,’ and that exactly what the girls did. In the first half we overcomplicated things a little bit, but then in the second half started moving the ball, making things easy, and scored some really, really good goals.”
The Bantams now sit in first place in the USL W League South Atlantic Division on 9 points and will host rivals Tormenta FC on Tuesday, June 4 in a 7:30 PM kickoff.