The Jacks remain undefeated in USL League One
MADISON, W.I. (April 29, 2023) – The Charlotte Independence drew against Forward Madison FC 0-0 on Saturday night at Breese Stevens Field in Madison, Wisconsin. The Jacks return home as they play host to Greenville Triumph SC for the first time this 2023 USL League One Season. The match kicks off on Wednesday, May 3rd at American Legion Memorial Stadium at 7:00 PM. Tickets are now on sale at charlotteindependence.com.
“It was a hard night against a good team,” Charlotte Independence Head Coach Mike Jeffries said. “It felt like the first half, we matched up pretty well. We had a couple of decent chances and then in the second half, you can see the fatigue, but the guys fought through it and found a way to get something out of the game. So, a lot of credit to the mentality and the spirit from the group.”
Both Charlotte Independence and Forward Madison FC came out strong at the beginning of the match. The Jacks were the first to earn a corner kick. It was midfielder #10 Miguel Ibarra who crossed a ball into the 18-yard box. It was deflected toward the top of the box toward #12 Brad Dunwell. He took a shot toward goal, but was saved by Forward Madison goalkeeper #55 Bernd Schipman.
In the 11th minute of the match, the Jacks attacked down the wing with #8 Joel Johnson finding his way to the 18-yard box. Johnson crossed a pass into forward #90 Khori Bennett for a header but the shot was tipped over the crossbar by Schipman.
On the other side of the pitch, Forward Madison gained momentum, forcing an attack on Charlotte’s defensive line. The Flamingos crossed a ball into the box, but it was headed away by #4 Nick Spielman. Spielman’s header found the foot of a Forward Madison attacker who took a shot that went towards the top left corner hitting off the crossbar.
“It was a hard fought point on the road,” Spielman said. “Everybody worked hard and grinded it out to keep the clean sheet. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to put one away, but we will take the point and move on to Wednesday against Greenvillle.”
At the half, Forward Madison FC 0 – Charlotte Independence 0.
Forward Madison FC came out of the locker room after the half with strong momentum. Early in the second half, the Flamingos sent a quality cross into the 18-yard box for a Forward Madison header, but the ball went wide right past the net.
Forward Madison again created pressure with an attack down the wing. The Flamingos found an open attacker outside of the 18-yard box with a shot curling towards the right side of the net but goalkeeper #1 Austin Pack jumped in front of the ball for the save.
“We showed a lot of mental toughness on the road against another strong team,” Pack said. “It’s been a long stretch of games, but everyone stepped up tonight to get a good point on the road.”
Later in the match, Forward Madison FC again attacked the Jack’s back line. They found an opening at the top of the 18-yard box with a cross from the wing to create a powerful header toward the net. Pack came out and punched the ball out, but it was deflected towards a Forward Madison FC player who found a shot at goal. Spielman then came in to block the shot and cleared the ball up the pitch.
“There’s a lot of great efforts. We block a lot of shots, we get in front of a lot of balls. We’ve been fighting,” Jeffries said. “We’re certainly not the biggest team and we’ve been fighting hard to manage crosses and I think it’s a combination of great individual efforts, different guys stepping up on different plays and different moments.”
Neither side could find the back of the net, resulting in a 0-0 draw.
NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE: The Charlotte Independence are back at home this Wednesday, May 3rd at 7:00 p.m. taking on Greenville Triumph SC at American Legion Memorial Stadium. Tickets are now on sale at charlotteindependence.com.
