Charlotte FC makes a point in St. Louis season opener 

CHARLOTTE FC

Charlotte FC midfielder Ashley Westwood and his mates will try for their first win of the 2026 MLS season at LA Galaxy on Feb. 28. The Crown earned a 1-1 draw last week in their opener at St. Louis City.

Two kick-saves from Kristijan Kahlina in the 90th minute and extra time saved the day and ensured a 1-1 draw against St. Louis City on MLS opening day. 

As they did last February, Charlotte took home a valuable point on the road. Last year, it was a 2-2 tie in Seattle. 

The Crown is now 1-2-2 in season openers. Charlotte’s first-ever MLS game was a 3-0 loss to DC United in Washington in 2022. They lost at home against the New England Revolution in 2023 and beat New York City FC 1-0 in 2024.

St. Louis scored in the 60th minute as Charlotte looked to advance up the left side. Harry Toffolo passed forward to Wilfried Zaha, who was pounded from behind by Jaziel Orozco, losing possession. SLC then, with the outside defenders of the Crown pushed up on both sides, played the ball forward quickly with two passes, the first from Daniel Edelman to Simon Becher, whose sublime one-touch pass took out both Tim Ream and Andrew Privett and played in Marcel Hartel on the left with only Kahlina to beat. His first-time right-footer slotted inside the keeper’s right post.

Pep Biel demonstrated his value and necessity to the success of this season, scoring the equalizer in the 73rd. Wilfried Zaha played the ball out to new left back David Schnegg, who had just come on for Harry Toffolo, at the top left just outside the SLC penalty area. He played it back to Zaha, and as the defense shifted, the English-born Ivorian national team player played it through to Biel, who shot the ball past Roman Burki from a sharp angle inside the far post. 

Seven minutes of added time at the end didn’t see either team playing for the draw, pushing upfield in hopes of a winner.

Observations

The officiating was even for the most part. Zaha was cut down for the first foul whistled in the 2026 MLS season but didn’t get some other calls he may have deserved as the SLC defenders got stuck in on him whenever possible. He was also incorrectly called for a foul as he danced around Orozco inside the St. Louis box with a chance to create something. 

He did, however, get a yellow card after pushing Orozco from behind near midfield in the 70th minute and then lightly dragging his leg over the fallen defender. Orozco tried to make a meal of it, showing how tough he really isn’t. His poor acting, though, did dupe referee Ismail Elfath into presenting the yellow card. 

Charlotte went with a high line on defense, but it wasn’t particularly effective as it didn’t cut off passing lanes, allowing SLC to move the ball up the field far too easily.

Idan Toklomati didn’t get a lot of chances, but worked hard in the effort to create or win the ball. He did have a shot that fans will remember, taking a ball lofted over his head as he ran into the SLC penalty area off his chest, a very difficult thing to do, and then slammed it past Burki but off the near post so hard that it almost rebounded to midfield. It wouldn’t have counted if it had gone in as the flag went up for an offside call, but it was demonstrative of what fans want to see from the 21-year-old.

David Schnegg, a left-footed Austrian who joined Charlotte from DC United, showed that he will challenge Toffolo for the starting left-back spot. In 21 minutes, he had 24 touches and was consistently up on the left wing to combine on the attack. His long cross to Vargas set up a spectacular side-volley that hit the outside of the net.

The other new kid on the block, Luca De La Torre, was paired with Ashley Westwood as defensive midfielders in Smith’s 4-2-3-1 lineup. He had a quiet day in his 70 minutes with 40 touches on the ball and just one shot off target. He was replaced by Djibril Diani. 

Andrew Privett returned to the starting lineup, now partnering with Ream in central defense in place of the departed Adilson Malanda, now with Middlesbrough in the English Championship. He was his usual reliable self, even after taking a yellow card just seven minutes into the match.

On the draw

St. Louis had the better chances to take the win in this one, but Charlotte, with the consistency of Kahlina, was good enough to split the reward. After drawing against Seattle in the opener last season, Charlotte only achieved one other tie in the next 33 matches, going 19-13-2. 

They deserved better in many of those losses, enough so that the Crown, who finished fourth in the East on 59 points, should have been in the mix of the top three that included Philadelphia (66), Cincinnati (65), and Miami (65). Dean Smith has stated that he cherishes the Supporters’ Shield and its designation as the best team across the regular season. 

To achieve that, Charlotte will have to turn losses into draws, and draws into wins.

Jeepers keepers

Kahlina had a busy day, called upon to make 10 saves. But St. Louis attackers will be the ones losing sleep with nightmares of the neon green monster, who denied all but one of their 11 shots on frame. They had 22 overall.

The effort awarded the Croatian a well-earned spot on the MLS Matchday of the Week. 

About Abada

When you’re a designated player and one of the highest-paid athletes on the team, performance will always be measured against that. Such was the situation last season for Liel Abada, whose numbers and minutes fell well below expectations for the 24-year-old who came to Charlotte from Celtic FC through the winter transfer window in 2024.

While he did not dazzle enough to impress upon his DP classification, he also wasn’t as big a failure as many fans chose to believe. Charlotte has depth on the wings and Kerwin Vargas’s maturation as a professional – especially an improvement in putting shots on target – earned him more minutes last season. Abada started 18 of 34 matches in 2025 MLS matches, with 5 goals and an assist, adding two more goals and an assist in five US Open and Leagues Cup matches. In 2024, he scored seven goals across 27 matches.

Abada was active on both sides of the ball, pressing on defense and making himself consistently available on the attack. He went at the SLC defense with the ball at his feet and created two chances, putting two shots on target.

The second one in the 58th minute wasn’t handled well by Burki and Biel, who had not made the run at the far post in anticipation of such a circumstance, pounded his forehead for missing the opportunity.
He was replaced by Vargas in the 70th minute.

Next up

Game 2 will also be on the road, on the Pacific coast against the LA Galaxy at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. Kickoff is 10:30 p.m. and televised on Apple TV. The Galaxy also drew their first match, 1-1 at home against NYCFC.

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