Charlotte Independence go for seventh straight win

CHARLOTTE INDEPENDENCE

Souaibou Marou scored Charlotte Independence's opening goal in a 2-0 win against USL League One leader Union Omaha June 10 at American Legion Memorial Stadium. Charlotte (7-2-2) has won six straight matches to move into second in the league table.

The Charlotte Independence are rumbling through USL League One.

The Jacks (7-2-2, 23 points), who took down league leaders Union Omaha 2-0 Wednesday for their sixth straight win, takes on FC Naples Saturday at American Legion Memorial Stadium at 7 p.m. The streak is Charlotte’s longest in its USL1 history and moves the Jacks into second place in the table, five points behind Omaha (9-3-1). 

The Jacks, who lead League One in scoring with 27 goals, continued its torrid pace when Souaibou Marou pulled Charlotte ahead in the first half, followed by a Luis Alvarez tally in the second. Goalkeeper Matt Levy maintained their advantage with a pair of acrobatic stops, including a second half penalty save to earn his third clean sheet.

“Matt came through with some huge plays,” Independence coach Mike Jeffries said. “Not just the penalty save, which was massive, but he made some big stops in the run of play early. He made a save that kept it scoreless, and then later had another good stop on a breakaway. Those are huge moments from him. That’s his clean sheet because we gave up a lot of chances. At the same time, we created a lot of chances ourselves tonight.”

Said Levy: “I felt like it was something the team really needed, especially after the last game [a 5-1 win at FC Naples on June 3.] We conceded with a couple minutes left when it was 5-0, and it felt like a clean sheet was pretty much secured. Then tonight the penalty happens, and obviously we were contesting it. We didn’t think it should have been a penalty, but that’s how it went. I just had confidence going into it. This year I’ve done well on penalties, so I relied on those past performances and experiences to carry me into that moment.”

Charlotte’s broke through in the 34th minute when Prince Saydee and Jon Bakero collaborated on give-and-go at the top of the box that freed Saydee on the flank. The winger fired a pass that  Marou tapped in for his third goal in as many matches and a 1-0 lead.

Alvarez added insurance in the second half with his sixth goal in as many matches, curling a shot into the side netting and the lead in the Golden Boot race.

“The first 20 minutes were a struggle,” Jeffries said. “I don’t think we adjusted well initially, but after about 20 minutes we settled in. From there, I thought we managed the game fairly well. Honestly, we were disappointed not to go into halftime with more than a one-goal lead. We were fortunate not to be behind early in the game, but once the tide started to turn in the first half, I thought we were unfortunate not to be up by more.”

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