Charlotte still has an undefeated soccer team.

In their first season in the Premier Development League, the Charlotte Eagles stand 11-0-5 after a 3-2 victory against the Cincinnati Dutch Lions on Tuesday for the South Atlantic Division championship.

“When you’re recruiting guys, and you’re bringing guys from different places, you just kind of hope that that happens—that they gel and get together, and I think it really happened fast for us, which was a real positive,” said Eagles coach Dave Dixon. “I knew that we could be good based on the players that we had. You never anticipate being able to go undefeated through that many games because there’s a lot of parity in the league, but I thought we could be right at the top if we gelled, and that’s a big credit to the guys [being] a cohesive group off the field, which helps on the field. You can see it when we’re really clicking; we’re pretty hard to beat.” 

 
With 13 goals (11 in the regular season), Pfeiffer forward Nathan Regis has provided a consistent scoring presence for the Eagles.

“It’s a big of an unknown playing field coming in,” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect in the beginning. Luckily, we just have a solid bunch of guys who work with one another. I came in expecting good, but not this good.”

Balancing the Eagles in the back has been defender Lalas Abubakar.

“I wasn’t expecting us getting this far, because [it’s] the first season in the PDL and different guys from different places—[it can be] very hard to come together and play,” he said. “We have a very good coach. He knows the game. I think that helps out a lot.”

Charlotte plays the Jersey Express Saturday in Newark in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

“Rest will be the biggest thing,” Dixon said of what the Eagles need to address before departing for Newark. “It’s just hard with camps to get guys rest, but I think movement—we were a little bit stagnant today. I don’t know if that was fatigue or just what (Cincinnati) were doing. Just kind of work a little bit on how we can break that first line of pressure. Most teams, the whole season, sat in on us. So when teams come to press us, we need to solve that a little bit better.”

Said Abubakar: “We’re going to have to prepare very, very well for the semifinals, and hopefully, we’re going to make Charlotte proud of us.”

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