Lexington SC cruised past Monterey Bay FC 3–1 at home on Friday night in USL Championship action, with Nicolas Firmino scoring twice in the first half before Phillip Goodrum added a third after the break. Sebastian Lletget pulled one back for the visitors, but it was never enough to trouble a comfortable Lexington side.

Firmino opened the scoring in the 26th minute, finishing off a chance created by Arturo Ordoñez. Five minutes later, he doubled the lead — this time converting from a Marcus Epps delivery to make it 2–0 before the half-hour mark. Monterey Bay struggled to respond and picked up a booking through Zackery Farnsworth in the 38th minute as frustration crept in.

The second half followed a similar pattern. Chris Nadje was cautioned early after the restart, and moments later Goodrum extended Lexington's advantage to three, tucking away a pass from Aaron Molloy in the 56th minute.

Monterey Bay finally found a response in the 64th minute when Lletget finished from a Nadje feed to cut the deficit to 3–1. It was a well-worked goal, but the visitors had left themselves too much to do. Kelsey Egwu picked up a third yellow card for Monterey Bay in the 75th minute as the game grew scrappy in its final stages. Tarik Scott was also booked late for Lexington.

Neither side generated anything meaningful in the closing minutes, and Lexington saw the game out without alarm. The victory keeps Lexington SC's home form ticking over and could prove valuable in what is shaping up to be a tight midseason stretch in the Championship standings.