North Carolina FC 6 – Charlotte Independence 2
Cary, NC — It took less than half an hour for Zach Steinberger to score his first goal in a North Carolina FC uniform.
Steinberger was acquired on loan from the Indy Eleven barely 48 hours before NCFC kicked off against the Charlotte Independence in their NC Derby rematch. He didn’t waste any time introducing himself to the NCFC Fam assembled at Sahlen’s Stadium.
After some back-and-forth play to start the match as the teams got a feel for the game, Charlotte nearly found the back of the net in the ninth minute when Caleb Calvert dinged a shot off of the goalpost and Yann Ekra’s follow up was cleared off of the goal line by NCFC’s Aaron Guillen.
Charlotte got on the scoreboard first in the 24th minute when an unmarked Kevan George nodded in Samuel Vines’ corner kick.
Two minutes later Steinberger headed a Tiyi Shipalane cross on goal but Andrew Dykstra batted the ball away to make the save. However, the ball came right back to Steinberger whose scissor-kick beat Dykstra to open his account with NCFC and level the game at 1-1.
The Carolina rivals took the 1-1 score into the locker room at halftime.
As the full moon began its ascent over WakeMed Soccer Park, North Carolina found their touch. Three and a half minutes into the second half, Steinberger ran onto a tack-sharp pass from Wuilito Fernandes and took a touch to open some space. He tapped the ball across the goal mouth to a wide-open Steven Miller who poked the ball past Dykstra to put the home team ahead.
With both teams battling to get into the playoffs, getting points out of this derby was crucial and NCFC locked up the three points in the 51st minute. Miller got the ball on the left side about 25 yards from goal. After settling the ball, he looked up and found Steinberger making a late run. Dykstra left his line to make a play for the ball, but Steinberger’s header beat the Charlotte goalkeeper and North Carolina was ahead 3-1.
The Independence struggled to find any flow after going down two goals on the road and left themselves prone to defensive mistakes that proved costly.
In the 69th minute, Shipalane took the ball near the right sideline and drew three Charlotte defenders to him. Shipalane passed the ball back to Austin da Luz who had an open field in front of him. He took a couple of easy touches and fired a left-footed shot past Dykstra to make the score 4-1.
Bertrand Owundi Eko’o brought down NCFC’s Daniel Rios in the 72nd minute, earning himself a yellow card and giving up a free kick to North Carolina’s top goal scorer. Rios lifted his free kick over the wall and past Dykstra and the rout was on.
Rios would add his second goal of the night six minutes later. Steinberger ran down the ball on the right side of the field, spun around his defender and found Miller for a pass. Miller crossed a ground ball through the box for Rios who tapped the ball past Dykstra for a 6-1 score.
Charlotte would get one back late in the match. Mutaya Mwape brought the ball down the right side and sent a low cross through the box. Jake Areman had slipped past NCFC’s defense and made a brave diving header to beat Alex Tambakis to make the final score 6-2.
Final Notes:
- Saturday night’s match was the first time North Carolina FC and the Charlotte Independence have played an official Southern Derby at WakeMed Park.
- With the victory over Charlotte, North Carolina FC leads the Southern Derby (Charleston is the third team in the derby) with four points.
- Daniel Rios’ two goals puts him at 15 goals on the season, one behind Golden Boot leaders Cameron Lancaster (Louisville City FC) and Thomas Enevoldsen (Orange County SC) with 16 goals each.
- At 34 points, North Carolina is in 10th place in the USL Eastern Conference, just one point out of a playoff spot. NCFC also has some games in hand compared to several of the teams ahead of them in the table. Tonight’s four-goal victory will help them, should they need a goal differential tiebreaker.
- Zach Steinberger finished the game with a sort-of Gordie Howe Hat Trick: two goals, an assist, and a yellow card (for excessive celebration following his second tally).
Lineups
North Carolina FC: A. Tambakis; A. Guillen, W. Fernandes, C. Tobin ©, DJ Taylor; T. Shipalane (M. Kandziora 73’), A. da Luz (P. Doue 77’), Z. Steinberger (D. Fortune 81’), G. Smith, S. Miller; D. Rios
Charlotte Independence: A. Dykstra; B. Duckett ©, B. Owundi, J. Johnson, S. Vines (J. Areman 70’); G. Jordan (M. Mwape 70’), Y. Ekra, K. George, A. Martinez, J. Watson; C. Calvert (R. Perez 83’)
Scoring
North Carolina: Z. Steinberger 26’ (Unassisted); S. Miller 49’ (Z. Steinberger); Z. Steinberger 51’ (S. Miller); A. da Luz 69’ (T. Shipalane); D. Rios 81’ (Unassisted); D.Rios 78’ (S. Miller)
Charlotte: K. George 24’ (S. Vines); J. Areman 85’ (M. Mwape)
Discipline
North Carolina: W. Fernandes (YC 36’); S. Miller (YC 38’); Z. Steinberger (YC 52’)
Charlotte: K. George (YC 32’);
Attendance: 4,195
North Carolina FC
USL
