North Carolina FC 0 –1 Charlotte Independence
CARY, NC— Riding a two-game win streak, North Carolina FC hosted the Charlotte Independence in their fourth meeting in the USL Championship season. Winless in their previous three matchups with their Southern Derby rival, North Carolina was the Independence for one of the two playoff spots in Group G.
NCFC found themselves in a tricky spot with another game against Memphis 901 FC postponed due to a Memphis player testing positive for COVID. The coronavirus also forced Loudoun United FC to cancel their remaining games, including an October 4tth match against North Carolina FC. With one game cancelled and one postponed indefinitely, the Dead Whales were facing the prospect of not getting enough games to accumulate the maximum number of available points.
Since they were not yet eliminated from playoff contention, a hastily scheduled neutral site match against New York Red Bulls II was played Wednesday evening at Segra Field. Coming off a win over group-leading Birmingham, NCFC left Virginia with a decisive 3-0 victory over NYRB II.
Which brings us to the Saturday night tilt against Charlotte. For North Carolina FC, it was all or nothing. A draw would see Charlotte lock down a playoff spot.
The game started at a fast pace with the Independence getting off to a hot start. After finding a couple of early chances, Charlotte head coach Mike Jeffries was forced to take defender Aaron Maund out of the game in the 12th minute.
Even without their big centerback, Charlotte kept a lid on North Carolina’s attempts to reach their final third, while creating a couple of scoring chances at the other end. NCFC nearly found the back of the net in first half stoppage time when D.J. Taylor delivered a perfectly weighted ball to forward Marios Lomis in the penalty area. But Lomis couldn’t get quite enough behind his shot to challenge Charlotte goalkeeper Brandon Miller, so the teams went to the locker room at halftime tied at 0-0.
North Carolina head coach Dave Sarachan noted that, while his team did well to keep their shape, they needed to clean up some loose ends when they had possession. “I thought we were a little sloppy, but as the half continued…toward the end thought we started to find a little bit more of a rhythm,” he said.
With 45 minutes left to keep their playoff hopes alive, North Carolina came out firing in the second half. In the 47th minute Akeem Ward got loose and took the ball just inside the Charlotte 18-yard box before turning loose a cannon that Miller just got his hand on to tip it over the bar.
North Carolina kept the pressure on the visitors throughout the second half with strong plays building out of their midfield, and outshooting Charlotte 13-8 in the game.
In the 63rd minute, midfielder Graham Smith won a battle with Charlotte’s Enzo Martinez for the ball and with an overhead kick found Robert Kristo. The NCFC forward carried the ball deep in the opposition end of the field and sent a solid cross across the net, but there was no one wearing blue waiting for the ball. Substitute midfielder Daniele Proch created a chance for himself in the 83rd minute after splitting the defense and rifling a left-footer that had some steam but went straight into Miller’s arms.
As the minutes ticked away on North Carolina’s post-season hopes, they continued to press forward aggressively. Their aggression nearly paid off in the 87th minute when homegrown star Manny Perez and Kristo combined to create a chance for Perez, but his blast blew wide of the goal. The two would team up again in the 90th minute when Perez swerved past defender Jake Armen and slipped the ball through to Kristo making a run into the box. Kristo’s shot hit the side netting as the fourth official indicated four minutes of stoppage time.
“[Charlotte] dropped off quite a bit and made it hard on us, but I still think we created enough chances to earn ourselves a goal,” Sarachan said in his post-game remarks. “We missed the target or we were just off and, you know, that’s football.”
Chasing a result with a greater sense of urgency left North Carolina vulnerable in their back third of the field, and in the 94th minute Charlotte was able to exploit a gap to get the game’s only goal.
Second half substitute Derek Gebhard picked up the ball on the counter-attack and tapped the ball forward to Dane Kelly. The Independence forward lifted his head up and saw Valentin Sabella steaming through the middle of the park unmarked. Sabella took a touch to get the ball over to his right foot before unleashing a shot that beat NCFC goalkeeper Alex Tambakis to the top corner. Tambakis would be called on one more time to stop Kelly on a one-on-one before the final whistle blew on the Dead Whales’ season.
“I can’t fault my team’s effort and initiative to try to win the game,” said Sarachan. “…We didn’t concede many chances for them. I feel for the guys because I think they put in a pretty good shift and a pretty good effort just didn’t get rewarded.”
Final Notes
- Charlotte forward Dane Kelly was back in the lineup after serving a suspension following the red card he got in the team’s previous game at WakeMed Soccer Park.
- With North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper shifting the state into Phase 3 COVID protocols, NCFC was able to make several hundred seats available for fans to attend what may be the club’s final 2020 home game.
- Charlotte’s win, combined with Birmingham Legion’s loss at Memphis, saw the Independence win Group G.
- Next up for North Carolina is a long off season of evaluating what went right and wrong for the club during this strange season before training camp opens up—hopefully—early in 2021.
Lineups
North Carolina FC: A. Tambakis; D.J. Taylor, A. Comsia C. Donovan, A. Ward; Pecka (N. Albadawi 81’), G. Smith (D. Proch 81’); B. Speas © (H. Barry 56’), D.Fortune; M. Perez; M. Lomis (R. Kristo 55’)
Charlotte Independence: B. Miller; C. Dimmick, A. Maund (J. Johnson 12’), H. Roberts, D. Lacroix; B. Etou, J. Areman, L. Hakkenson (V Sabella 73’), E. Martinez ©, D. Kelly, R. Ortiz (D. Gebhard 74’)
Score:
North Carolina FC: 0
Charlotte Independence: 1
Goals:
North Carolina FC: none
Charlotte Independence: V. Sabella 94’ (D. Kelly)
Discipline:
North Carolina FC: none
Charlotte Independence: L. Haakenson, YC 45+1’; D. Kelly, YC 88’; D. Gebhard, YC 90+1’; V. Sabella, YC 90+5’
North Carolina FC
USL Championship
