Postseason comes into focus for Charlotte pro soccer teams

TROY HULL | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Allan Saint-Maximin has boosted Charlotte FC's attack since joining the Crown during the summer transfer period. Charlotte is fifth in the MLS Eastern Conference with 50 points going into Saturday's match against Orlando City..

It will be another busy soccer weekend in the Queen City.

Charlotte FC faces Orlando City on Saturday afternoon (1 p.m.) at Bank of America Stadium; the table-topping Carolina Ascent playing Lexington SC in a rematch of last season’s championship final at American Legion Memorial Stadium at 7 p.m., and the top-seeded Charlotte Independence begin their playoff run in a quarterfinal against FC Naples, at Memorial on Sunday at 7 p.m.

Peaking

With four games to go in the Gainbridge Super League’s sprint regular season, the Ascent are 7-1-2, eight points (23) ahead of Jacksonville, which has a game in hand. Last week’s 0-0 draw was an aberration as the Ascent had scored in 22 straight games. They had also won 10 straight road games, a GSL record. They haven’t lost in seven matches, and goalkeeper Sydney Martinez has seven shutouts in 10 games.

The Ascent have a 4-2-2 record all-time against Lexington, including a 1-0 win in Kentucky this season. They can clinch the first spot in the 2026 Fall Playoffs with a victory this weekend and a draw or loss by Dallas Trinity FC.

One trophy down. One to go.

It didn’t go well for the Independence in their last regular season match against Portland Hearts of Pine, a 4-1 loss, but it was more about pragmatism with the playoffs looming. The Jacks had already clinched the Players Shield and home advantage through the ULS One playoffs. 

They were 14-1-1 at home this season, but it’s a one-game knockout in every round, so nothing can be taken for granted.

An offensive-minded team, their 74 goals, a league record, were 19 more than the next best team. Souaibou Marou scored 18 of them, taking the Golden Boot award, while Jon Bakero assisted on 18, setting a new USL One season record. Both honors are the first in team history.

Since the start August, the Independence are 10-3-3, and 4-1-1 in their last six matches. They have demonstrated remarkable resilience in coming back when needed to secure a win or draw.
“I think this group has shown a lot of passion and shown a lot of confidence and belief in themselves that when we do get to the end of the games, that we're just going to find a way,” coach Mike Jeffries said. “And you know, we've been able to do it.

“I think one of the things that's maybe separated them a little bit from some of the previous seasons is we've had, and we've had good depth in previous years as well, but we've had very good depth, and on different dates, different guys have stepped up and come through with big moments and made it.”

The Crown clinches

Charlotte FC clinched a spot in the MLS playoffs with an exclamation point on Wednesday in a 4-0 demolition of Montreal as Liel Abada scored a hat trick with three strikes in 18 minutes after coming off the bench.

Charlotte started well, jumping to a 1-0 lead in the sevent minute. Idan Toklomati’s uncontested header from six yards out dead center came off a pinpoint cross from Allan Saint-Maximin, who recorded his seventh assist in 13 matches for the Crown. It didn’t hurt that Montreal defender Brayan Vera slipped on the turf in front of Toklomati.

After the goal, it all became a bit disconnected for Charlotte, and through the first 45 Montreal created the more dangerous opportunities, outshooting the home team 9-5 in the first half. 
“We stunk for 60 minutes, and then we were good for 30,” coach Dean Smith said. “We stunk the place out for 60 minutes. We weren't good enough.

“But a bit of magic from Maxi and a good header from Idan had given us a lead at halftime, and then from 60 minutes on, I thought we were really good, and that’s more of what we should be.”

Maybe not the full 60. Those first seven minutes were pretty strong. Just 20 seconds in, Toklamati was sent in nicely by Pep Biel, with his shot from the right saved by goalkeeper Samsy Keita for a corner kick.

Charlotte should have doubled the score five minutes from halftime, but Djibril Diani missed wide on an open header at the back post from a corner kick. Biel’s shot in the 45th minute was well saved by the 17-year-old Keita. 

Again, it was an opportunity set up by Maxi. It was Biel’s first big moment as he seemed out of sorts early, getting too far under a cross and skying a shot that the Spaniard with superb technical skill would normally have on target. But his quality and skill found the groove, linking the team through the midfield and creating chances in front of the Montreal goal.

Biel has 13 goals and 16 assists. Toklomati’s 15 goals and six assists have surpassed his totals last year, while Abada’s eight goals and five assists are his high marks with the Crown.
On a defensive note, Montreal only had one shot in the second half.

How about Abada?

Then came Abada, subbing in for Rodolfo Aloko in the 65th minute and scoring just two minutes later on a pass from Diani, neatly finishing a right-footed shot from the left to the far post on a 4-on-3 Charlotte break.

Twelve minutes later, Abada scored his second. He started a play ten yards deep in the Charlotte half, collecting the ball and sending it forward to Biel, who beat a defender with one touch and played it through to Toklomati, who was still about 55 yards away from the Montreal goal. 

As he drove down the center with three defenders in chase, Abada had sprinted from well behind the play. He caught up with Toklomati, who hit the brakes just outside the top of the arc and played it through to the Abada bullet train, who still had the wherewithal to place the ball, this time with his left foot, inside the far post.

In the 83rd, Biel fed Abada for the hat-trick after Nathan Byrne won the ball about 36 yards out with a crunching tackle that knocked the ball forward to Abada in the middle just outside the penalty area. He laid it off to Biel on the right and the Spaniard gave it right back to him. Abada scored again with his right boot from ten yards out. 

“So pleased for Liel,” said Smith. “He didn't have the best of times in Portland, but he's come on the pitch today, and three great finishes, three great runs as well.”

Abada added: “It's really special, to be honest. Really special to score. Every striker, every winger, every player wants, to be honest, to score. But thank you very much for the team that helped me, to the staff that pushed me every day to be the best.”

Abada acknowledged the pressure that comes with being a designated player. “I think in the last one and a half years, I didn't play very well, and it was a hard situation for me. But I try to keep strong. I try to work hard every day in training. I try to learn every day. After the World Cup break, I had really good opportunity that gave me a really happy job. I built up my confidence; I built up my quality because I want to help the team. I want every game to help them and show myself on the pitch for me, for the crowd, for the fans.” 

It marks the third-ever hat trick for Charlotte. Toklomati achieved it last season in a 3-0 win over Inter Miami, and Daniel Rios, coincidentally on the field for Montreal now, scored four against then-defending MLS champions Philadelphia in 2022.

Call him Allan Saint-Maximum

Prior to Abada’s heroics, Charlotte’s most dangerous player was easily Allan Saint-Maximin. Along with his service to Toklomati for the first goal, he came so close to scoring his second goal for the Crown in the 60th minute, dragging defenders across the penalty area, only to see his shot bounce off a sprawled Keita.

The French winger terrorized Montreal defenders until he pulled up near midfield with an injury to his right ankle in the 71st minute. He had just gathered the ball in the Charlotte half and accelerated across the field, getting clipped by a Dawid Bugaj slide tackle but rather than go down, he aggressively kept on, eventually playing the ball forward to Toklomati before dropping to the turf. 
In his last ten matches, he hadn’t played less than 77 minutes, going the full 90 twice, and you could see it in his eyes that he didn’t want to leave this one, but he knew his night was done. 

Maxi came in to Charlotte shortly after Wilfried Zaha moved out after his loan expired. Like Zaha, Saint-Maximin has crazy good ball skills. Unlike Zaha, though, Saint-Maximin’s first instinct is to attack, putting defenders on their heels and twisting them into knots with a variety of footwork, feints, and change of pace. He runs at them, across them, around them, with multiple step-overs, shake-and-bake moves, 360-degree turns, and sometimes all of the above.

He commands attention, but the improvement of Aloko and Abada on the other wing and Maxi’s ability to switch fields keeps the opposition honest or opens up the other side of the pitch.

Putting Doucs in order

The latest addition to the squad, Abdoulaye Doucouré, nicknamed Doucs (pronounced Dukes) came on in the 84th minute, giving him a chance to get his sea legs with his new team. The 33-year-old Frenchman had made his mark with Watford (2015-2020), then Everton (2020-2025) over nine seasons in the Premier League before a short run in Saudi Arabia. As a free agent, Zoran Krneta was able to bring him aboard in time for the playoff run. His contract is only through the end of the 2026 season, but his first time out might bode well for a longer stay.

His first touch of the ball set Tyger Smalls through on the right, creating a chance for Nathan Richmond, recently promoted to the first team from Crown Legacy. He stretched but could not direct the chest high cross inside the frame with his right foot.

Running as an attacking midfielder, Doucouré impressed as almost every one of his 12 touches were first-time passes that advanced the play. Every pass found a teammate. 

CLTFC is fifth (50 points) in the MLS East, two points shy of Chicago in the coveted fourth spot with two games to play, at home against Orlando and on the road in Miami on Decision Day.

Saturday’s match will be much more difficult. Orlando sits in seventh. They can possibly pass Philadelphia but can also be caught by Cincinnati or Columbus if they don’t get results. They have also been a playoff nemesis to the Crown and now have the former French international Antoine Griezmann, who has 14 goals and seven assists in just 16 matches.

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