The Charlotte Independence showed creativity in their final preseason match.

Drawing 2-all against the NASL’s Jacksonville Armada F.C., the Jacks showed progress in the final third. However, they failed to capitalize on multiple opportunities.

“Today was kind of the culmination of seeing a lot of what we’ve been working on in training show up in games,” said defender Bilal Duckett, who scored the opening goal for the Independence in the 34th minute. “Yeah, we got two goals. I was fortunate enough to get on the end of a second ball on a set piece, and we have been working on set pieces a bit this past week. It’s always good to get a goal off of that.”

Striker David Spies came on for Jorge Herrera, who had a goal disallowed in the 23rd minute. Spies’ first touch of the match put the Jacks up 2-1.

“David’s movement for his goal was fantastic. He’s been working a lot on that kind of movement—winning the ball and being able to go quickly, as well as being able to keep it for long periods of time,” Duckett said.

Charlotte continued to press, but defensive mistakes cost them as Jacksonville equalized.

“It was a good game for us,” coach Mike Jeffries said. “They’re a good team. [It was] a physical exercise for sure. That was good for us, in terms of being prepared for next week. I did feel like we got a lot of good looks. We weren’t always as clinical with the final cross or the final pass as I would have liked on a number of the occasions, but there were a lot of stretches in the game where our movement with the ball, our ability to play, move, run off and free guys was really good. Maybe not quite enough, even though we got two goals, not quite enough in the final third.”

Creating and capitalizing on chances has plagued the Independence throughout their first two seasons. Typically, they have held the ball too long in the box instead of making the crucial final pass. Against Jacksonville, they looked sharper. They let the ball do the work, playing simple passes, creating space in the middle third and catching Jacksonville on the counterattack (an aspect that Jeffries has emphasized throughout preseason).

“In the first half there were countless chances that we had where we were either a fraction of an inch offsides or we’re going to feel a little bit hard done, but you are starting to see a lot of creative movement in the final third,” Duckett said. “Little slipped balls that are kind of the way we play through the midfield, and now you are starting to see it in the final third as well. It’s very encouraging to see the group coming along like this, this quickly.”

The Jacks head to Davidson tomorrow for a reserve match at 1 p.m. They open their USL campaign against Charleston on April 1 at Transamerica Field.

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