Recap of Dothan Dragons' first win and look ahead to home opener Saturday (2024)

JON JOHNSON

The first goals of the season translated into the first win in Dothan United franchise history on the road Wednesday to give the Dragons a lift going into the home opener Saturday at Rip Hewes Stadium.

The new pro soccer team in Dothan defeated East Atlanta FC 3-2 in Conyers, Ga., improving to 1-0-1 in the regular season ahead of a home matchup against the Tennessee Soccer Club on Saturday night with a 7 p.m. start.

It was an emotional night for the Dragons, who learned about 45 minutes before the start of the sudden passing of Dothan native Stephen Durham, who was part of the ownership group and VP of Marketing and Sales

Durham is among those who helped create much excitement among the community for the Dragons after it was announced last November the franchise was being put together.

Team president Steve Donner noted Durham was tireless in selling the idea to him of bringing soccer, and potentially other projects to Dothan.

“We would all not be doing this if not for Stephen,” Donner replied in a text message asking for comment.

Dothan opened the regular season May 15 at the Southern Soccer Academy in Austell, Ga., in a match that ended in a 0-0 tie. The Dragons’ exhibition game at home on May 11 against Brave SC of The Villages, Fla., also ended in a scoreless tie.

To finally get some goals during the win at East Atlanta was a welcome sight for Dothan coach Carl Reynolds, whose team has been magnificent on the defensive end.

Dothan got the game-winner with about three minutes left when Nicolas Cam Orellana scored off a header.

“We had a breakaway and they took one of our boys down just as he was about to shoot just outside the box, so we got a free kick,” Reynolds explained on Thursday. “We put the ball in and Cristobal Molina headed the ball back across the goal and probably the toughest finish of the day, Nico (Orellana) kind of going back on the ball headed it into the top corner.”

Dothan took the early lead in the match.

“We had probably three or four really good chances that we didn’t capitalize on and then we took the lead through Reece Harrison, who was unassisted,” Reynolds said. “Then we had a silly give away in the middle of the field and they equalized off a deflection.

“Right before halftime, Sebas Jorgge had a great breakaway and squared the ball to Alexander Blanche, who had a lovely finish (2-1 Dragons at halftime).

“We came out in the second half and had another couple of chances … felt like we could have had a couple of PKs (penalty kicks) that we didn’t get. And then they got given a PK with about five minutes to go, and obviously they scored the PK.

“Then it’s do we settle for the draw or do we go for the win? We went for it and fortunately we got what we deserved.”

Yago Darub ValadAres got the win in goal for the Dragons.

Reynolds was proud to see good play from both the offense and defense.

“The defense has been pretty solid,” Reynolds said. “A couple of little mistakes yesterday … but for the most part, a deflected goal and a PK … you have to take your hits sometimes.

“It was really nice to see us finally hit the net. We’ve been showing it in training, but in any sport doing it in training is one thing and doing it under the lights is another. We were really proud of the guys.”

More than 4,000 tickets have been sold in advance for the home opener, which will feature an opponent in Tennessee that enters the match after an season-opening 2-0 home win over Birmingham Legion FC on Monday.

“We are unbelievably excited,” Reynolds said. “Everywhere we go around Dothan, everybody is talking about it; everybody is giving us support telling us they are going to be at the game. I have to be the one that manages the guy’s emotions a little bit and manage my own emotions, because it is going to be very, very cool.

“But ultimately, the night will be even better if we can get a result and that’s our job, right?”

Dothan, Tennessee (1-0) and Asheville City SC (1-0) are the lone unbeaten clubs after a week of play in the 7-team South Central Division of the United Soccer League 2.

“They have a lot of quality,” Reynolds said of Tennessee. “They are going to be very rotational with the way that they play, which means they get a lot of numbers centrally, which always causes a little bit of problems defensively.

“But our style is very aggressive and we want to put pressure on the ball pretty early, so we hope we can kind of take them out of that rhythm. It’s going to be two teams that are going to be looking to win this league and may the best team win.”

Tickets can be purchased online at www.dothanunitedsoccer.com or at the box office beginning at 4:30 p.m. For those purchasing online, the prices are $12.50 adults and $7 for kids in general admission, and $16 adults and $7 for kids for center pitch, which is the two middle sections of the stadium. For those purchasing at the stadium the day of the game, prices are $14 adults and $7 for kids in general admission, and $20 adults and $9 kids for center pitch. Ushers will be there to assist as needed.

The gates open at 5:30 p.m. There is a clear bag policy.

A big fireworks display will be held after the match to coincide with the Memorial Day weekend.