If you were so inclined, you could poke at Memphis 901 FC forward Nighte Pickering’s first-half performance in his side’s season opener on Saturday afternoon against Las Vegas Lights FC.

He only recorded 18 touches and completed 5 of 7 passes overall. He won only 2 of 8 duels and wasn’t as consistent a presence as he could have been in the side’s buildup.

And then, with one strike from his left foot, you remember just how talented the 19-year-old is now and has the potential to be in the future.

“I think it came from Bruno [Lapa] on the right,” said Pickering of his dipping 25-yard blast that served as the winner in Memphis’ 2-1 victory against Las Vegas Lights FC. “It came to me and I took a touch and realized there wasn’t much pressure on me so I just decided to hit. It happened to go over the keeper right under the bar and it was a good goal. You do feel it when it comes off your foot.”

Pickering has shown a flair for the spectacular since landing in Memphis about 18 months ago. Scoring on a bicycle kick in his debut was quite the introduction, and his chipped left-footed finish on a counterattack against Miami FC showed off the 19-year-old’s composure.

He had almost grabbed a goal before his spectacular finish, reading a loose pass in the defensive third to claim possession before rattling the crossbar with his finish as he drove into the left side of the penalty area.

The finish that followed 12 minutes later more than made up for it.

“Going down 1-0 isn’t the best situation, but we showed in the first half the fight to come back and take the lead,” said Pickering. “In the second half, holding onto the lead is hard. They’re putting a lot of pressure on us, but we dealt with it well, creating more chances that we could’ve finished the game with. Overall, a good game.”

With four goals and four assists a season ago, Pickering was among the candidates for the Championship’s Young Player of the Year award. Getting this new campaign off to a scoring start will only add to the swagger he brings to the field, and while the expectation should be there’s more involvement moving forward in 901 FC’s build-up, having someone who can summon something out of nothing has value in and of itself.

The next few months are going to be important for Pickering, who is age-eligible for the next United States U-20 National Team cycle with the spotlight on August’s Concacaf U-20 Championship’s in Mexico.

As an opening statement, however, Saturday’s strike was a positive one for one of the Championship’s top young talents.

Here are some of the other young players who stood out on opening weekend…

- Paul Walters, Hartford Athletic: The 19-year-old got the nod in net with veteran Renan Ribeiro unavailable due to injury and chalked up a three-save shutout in his USL Championship debut.

- Rocco Genzano, Miami FC: The Italian 19-year-old made a positive USL Championship debut, completing 23 of 29 passes, winning 2 of 2 tackles and making seven recoveries in Miami’s win against Colorado Springs.

- Ashton Miles, Orange County SC: Signed to a pro deal this offseason after three starts as a USL Academy signing last season, Miles had the initial shot that led to Orange County’s first-half goal and won 3 of 4 tackles and recorded a key close-range block against Sacramento.

- Brandan Craig, El Paso Locomotive FC: The 19-year-old center back was solid on the ball, completing 51 of 62 passes, and won 7 of 11 duels and 3 of 3 tackles in his side’s clash with Hartford Athletic.

- Zion Scarlett, Greenville Triumph SC – Dipping into USL League One, the 19-year-old Jamaican youth international became the youngest goalscorer in Triumph SC history in the side’s victory against Spokane Velocity FC while notching a pair of chances created.