Tim Hayes
BRISTOL, Va. - There have only been four wins from which to choose from in the two-year history of the Bristol Rhythm, but Saturday night's victory was easily the most impressive for the fledgling semi-pro franchise.
Goalkeeper Gauthier Lumale was part of a dandy defensive effort as the Rhythm recorded a 2-1 triumph over Appalachian FC from Boone, North Carolina, in a National Premier Soccer League match at Gene Malcolm Stadium.
Bristol (2-2) equaled its win total from its inaugural 2024 season and did so by springing an upset of the defending Southeast Conference champions. Appalachian FC has an all-time league record of 26-8-11 since debuting in 2021 and beat Bristol by scores of 3-0 and 4-0 a year ago.
This time the Rhythm prevailed in an intense, physical match that featured a combined seven yellow cards and plenty of rough-and-tumble collisions in soggy conditions.
People are also reading... SWVA hoops legend Randy Poole passes away VHSL Regional Tournament Capules for Thursday's Games THURSDAY'S HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP: Kenzie Bradley (Holston), Jordan Mooney (J.I. Burton), Braelyn Hall (Eastside), Maci Gibson (Wise Central), Annsley "A.J." Trivette (Abingdon), Erin Hensley (Gate City), Justin Thomas (Tazewell), Alli Hale (Richlands) among stars HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL: David Boggs steps down after three seasons as head coach at Tennessee High COLLEGE BASEBALL: Marion Hungry Mothers play first home game today at 6:30 p.m. Curt's Ace Hardware hosts grand opening for new Bristol location Strawberries labor intensive but offer sweet rewards for farmer, patrons 2025 "PAPPY" THOMPSON AWARD WINNER: Tyler Barrett, Patrick Henry HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL: Big inning propels Chilhowie past Rye Cove in Region 1D quarterfinals SUMMER LEAGUE BASEBALL: Marion Hungry Mothers drop home opener before large crowd TUESDAY'S HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP: Eastside, Rye Cove, Twin Valley win baseball games HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL: Green guides Abingdon to Region 3D win over Magna Vista VHSL PLAYOFF PRIMER: Rainy forecast already shifts regional tourney schedules HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL: Union's young guns silence Virginia High bats in regional win HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL: Lebanon walks off Wise Central in Region 2D quarterfinal with high drama
"I love games like that," said Bristol midfielder Louie Salkeld. "It's wet, it's cold. No one really wants to do the dirty work, but everybody did the dirty work today. The tackles, the headers; that's part of the game I love and sometimes it gets lost ... Everybody did it today and that helped us come out on top."
Bristol scored just 15:10 into the match as Newcastle, England, native Kai Slinn put one in from about 15 yards out. Can you say tone-setter?
"One hundred percent," said Bristol coach Louis Sharp. "The first goal of any game is big and when you're playing literally a powerhouse of the NPSL, it kind of puts them on their back foot and they are like, 'OK, we weren't expecting that.' ... It played into our own hands a little bit."
A dude who scored seven goals during the 2024 season at Milligan University, Slinn's shot had some power behind it.
"Kai might have surprised himself a little bit he put it so nicely into the top corner, but he shows week in and week out that he has that striking ability," Sharp said. "After that the crowd got behind us and we played off that as well."
Bristol found the back of the net again in the 66th minute as Alex Panner scored on an assist from former King University standout Mate Lengyel.
Yet, the defense was the story for the Rhythm as fan favorite Boikaego "Stooge" Mbaakanyi was part of the relentless effort to shut down the North Carolinians.
Lumale was selected as the man of the match after making some crucial saves.
The Frenchman was a third-time All-Conference Carolinas pick at King University in 2024 after recording four shutouts. An assistant coach for the Tornado happens to be Bristol Rhythm boss Louis Sharp.
"I've seen it for the last two years, day in and day out what he can do and he showed it today," Sharp said. "Those saves at the end wins this game for us. Now, hopefully everyone can stand up and appreciate what he does. He doesn't always get the credit being in goal, but he was one of the reasons we won the game."
Appalachian FC (3-2) got on the board nearly 4 ½ minutes into stoppage time when Jesper Schierholz scored. The pressure was on, but Lumale and the Rhythm held off a desperation charge.
"In stoppage time they had the ball like 90 percent of the time," Lumale said. "We just defended with everything we had and everybody did their job defensively."
Lumale was roughed up near the end of the contest after making a save, but he did not exit the match.
"I just grabbed the ball and their striker thought he could shoot it," Lumale said. "He shot my head instead after I took the ball out of the way. I was dizzy for a couple of seconds."
Bristol was coming off consecutive road losses but rebounded in a big way. The Rhythm play at the Knoxville, Tennessee-based 865 Alliance (0-3) on June 7.
The team will try to achieve a franchise first in that one: back-to-back victories.
"We obviously made a couple of tweaks with the shape and formations for this game, but at the end of the day it's about character and we have great character," Salkeld said. "We worked for each other and got the win, which was sorely needed"
Be the first to know
Get local news delivered to your inbox!
Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Tim Hayes Author facebook Author twitter Author email Follow Tim Hayes Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification.
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today