Faris breaks scoring mark in 5-1 season finale loss for Steel FC

Steel FC wasn’t able to play spoilers to Charleston Battery in their 5-1 season finale loss Saturday afternoon, but Faris Moumbagna did set a new single-season scoring mark for the Philadelphia Union USL affiliate with his 11th of the season.

Down 3-0 in the 78th minute, Faris collected a deflected cross in the box turned and fired it home to momentarily give the visitors — playing in the final game at MUSC Health Stadium in Charleston — life.

The victory for the home side, which clinched a playoff berth, was decided just three minutes later when A.J. Paterson scored the first of two goals against his former team in the closing minutes. His goal in the 84th minute closed out the scoring in a game where five of the six goals came in the 67th minute or later.

With the loss, the Steel finished the season in 16th place with a W-D-L record of 8-7-19, just five points ahead of last place Swope Park Rangers. First-year team Hartford Athletic finished in 17th place two points shy of the Steel.

Philadelphia Union goalkeeper Matt Freese made seven saves in the losing effort

Faris, who replaced Shaynder Borgelin at halftime, broke the team’s single-season scoring mark set by Seku Conneh with 10 goals in 2017. The 19-year-old now has 14 career goals in 40 appearances in the USL Championship.