Rookie to the rescue: Cambridge brace leads Crown win

PHOTO | TROY HULL

Charlotte FC defender Derrick Jones competes for possession of the ball in the Crown's 2-1 win against Chicago Fire Wednesday at Bank of America Stadium. The win moves Charlotte (5-5-3) to seventh in the Eastern Conference with 18 points.

In another match where Charlotte FC dominated pretty much everything except what matters most - threatening the opponent’s goal - that all changed when Brandon Cambridge entered the game in the 59th minute. Two goals for the rookie in his fourth MLS appearance helped the Crown put out the Chicago Fire 2-1 before 29,016 at the Bank of America Stadium Wednesday night.

If Cambridge’s scalp is a bit tender, the responsibility falls on the teammates who mobbed him, grabbing his hair in celebration of his timely heroics that rescued and won the match.

According to a tweet by MLS Communications: “With his brace, Charlotte FC’s Brandon Cambridge became the third player in league history to score a game-tying and game-winning goal as a substitute within his first four MLS appearances. The last player to do so: Zlatan Ibrahimovi? against LAFC on March 31, 2018.”

As noted, it was just Cambridge’s fourth MLS appearance. He had seen all of 18 minutes in his first three, against Real Salt Lake, NYCFC, and Atlanta, but played 54 minutes off the bench against South Georgia Tormenta in a U.S. Open Cup match. He was an unused substitute in three other call-ups to the first team.

With Charlotte behind 1-0 at the time, Cambridge came in for Jaylin Lindsey, who put in a yeoman’s shift as a wing player on offense and right-back on defense logging miles up and down the pitch. He had done the same against Atlanta on Saturday, getting two assists in the 3-1 win.

“I look at the game and then try to do what we feel is right,” coach Christian Lattanzio said. “I thought that, in that moment, we needed an outlet, because it was very difficult for Jay to give us this, the width (on offense) and then help us defensively. Jay did this with a lot of with a lot of enthusiasm and with a lot of effort. But it was difficult nevertheless, physically and mentally. So, I decided that we needed to switch.”

Charlotte’s ‘homegrown’ from Canada

In the complicated world of MLS roster designations, the Brooklyn-born, South Africa and British Columbia-raised Cambridge was acquired by Charlotte, who purchased his homegrown rights from the Vancouver Whitecaps, who originally laid claim to the kid whose family moved to Chilliwack in the Canadian province when he was 11. Cambridge joined their academy in 2018 as a 16-year-old.

“We were really impressed with Brandon during our scouting across the country at the collegiate level as we prepared for the 2023 MLS SuperDraft,” sporting director Zoran Krneta said when Cambridge penned his contract last December. “We are pleased to sign him to a Homegrown MLS contract as we continue our goal of developing young, talented players. Brandon has shown his potential at (the University of) Portland and during his time in the Vancouver Whitecaps youth academy.”

Score early, score often

Cambridge scored three goals in his first two matches for the Crown Legacy and was voted MLS Next Pro Player of the Matchday after netting a brace in a 2-1 win over FC Cincinnati 2 to secure the first three points in club history.

Against Atlanta on Saturday, he came very close to netting his first MLS goal but shot wide of the far post. In a Tweet after that game, he wrote to the Charlotte supporters, “I will get that goal back for you guys.”

He did. Tonight the natural right-footed player had the ball on his left foot with the goal in front of him and he didn’t hesitate to take the shot. Twice.

Nine minutes on the pitch in this one, Cambridge benefited from the vision of Justin Meram who played the ball out of traffic in the middle, through the legs of a defender to him about 6 yards wide of the penalty spot on the right. Cambridge settled the ball with his left foot with his first touch and then bent it around the keeper and inside the far post with the same to bring the Crown even.

Thirteen minutes later, he did it again when a cross by Nathan Byrne was headed by Fire defender Mauricio Pineda only to land at Cambridge’s feet. He trapped the ball with his right foot, adjusted with a tap of his left as the Fire defense scrambled in front of him, then patiently curled it between two defenders along the turf into the far post.
“I can play both (sides),” Cambridge said. “I think preferably, I like the right side better. I’m a right-footed player, but I can also shoot with my left so either one works for me.”
Asked about his goal celebrations, Cambridge admitted it all got a bit helter-skelter and off-script.

"You dream of that moment as a kid and when it finally happened - you’re always practicing celebrations in your bathroom or your room - those all go out the window."

“I just went crazy. Not gonna lie. That's all that popped in. Let's go crazy.”

Climbing the table

Charlotte FC, now 5-5-3 after three consecutive league wins, jumps five spots to seventh in the MLS Eastern Conference, level with Columbus and Philadelphia on 18 points but behind on goal differential. After dropping the first three matches of the season where they were outscored 7-1, Charlotte has had positive results in eight of 10 games going 5-2-3.

The first half hour of the game, Charlotte was controlling 75% of possession, spending a lot of time in front of Chicago’s goal but failing to find the final connections.
The Crown’s most dangerous opportunity came in the sixth minute but won’t even show up in the stat sheet. Enzo Copetti was floored from behind by the Fire’s Federico Navarro after Brandt Bronico’s nifty pass set him in on goal, but referee Tori Penso didn’t call it and VAR wouldn’t correct it.

In a second penalty call claim from Copetti, Penso was correct in ignoring his pleas as the defender had touched the ball and the striker seemed to be looking to help create the foul. In another potential call where Jan Sobocinski’s header off a free kick by Karol Swiderski looked to glance off the arm of a Fire defender.

Lattanzio said it was clear that only one team came to play, meaning that the Fire were content to soak up the pressure and try to strike on the counterattack. That strategy by Chicago coach Frankie Klopas seemed a good idea when his team broke the deadlock in the 29th minute against the run of play.

It was quite a beautiful combination, actually. It started and ended with striker Kacper Przybylko’s give-and-go run from his half to the Charlotte penalty area. He played the ball to Brian Gutierrez in the center circle just across midfield. Centerback Adilson Malanda had stepped up to defend that, tackling Gutierrez but not before he had played the ball back to the Fire’s key playmaker Xherdan Shaqiri who played it first touch on the diagonal to the 6-foot-4 Przybylko who had kept on an overlapping run through the left interior.

Jaylin Lindsey, who had been up in the attack, was slow in getting back on Charlotte’s right and Ashley Westwood in midfield did not pick up the runner who was one-on-one against goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina who blocked the right-footed shot. The rebound fell to the German’s left foot and this time he slotted it under Kahlina for the goal and the Crown was down 1-0.

With only a third of possession in the first half, Chicago had outshot Charlotte 3 to 1 with all three on target.
But that’s where resilience comes in.

“The biggest thing that boss preaches to us is just to have grit,” said Cambridge of Lattanzio’s leadership. “And that's what we do, you know. When things aren't going well or not going our way, we just put our heads down, keep working, and the results will come in. Right now, they're coming, so hopefully we go Saturday and do that again.”

Lattanzio’s advice to Cambridge on how to process Wednesday’s success?

“To enjoy and start tomorrow like nothing happened. Just focus on what you need to do.”

Charlotte hosts southern rival Nashville on Saturday at Bank of America Stadium.

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