Forward #9 Dane Kelly scored the Jack’s lone goal in the 87th minute.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 3, 2023) – The Charlotte Independence dropped their first match of the 2023 season to Greenville Triumph SC 1-3 Wednesday night at American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Jacks are off this weekend and then back on the road to face USL League One expansion side Lexington SC on Saturday, May 13 at Toyota Stadium at 7:00 PM. Fans can watch the match for free on Bahakel Sports.
“We’ll move forward from it,” Charlotte Independence Head Coach, Mike Jeffries said. “We kept fighting, kept pushing until the end of the game. We were able to pull one back. We’ve had five games in 15 days so we weren’t at our best on the day.”
It was a quick turnaround for both teams after competing over the weekend and a race to see who was going to take the momentum. The Jacks took the first look at goal early in the first half when #9 Dane Kelly received a ball from #8 Joel Johnson. Kelly ran down the middle of the pitch into the 18-yard box, going one on one with #99 Jared Mazzola. Kelly got a shot off but it was punched away by the goalkeeper to force a Charlotte corner kick.
Later in the half, Greenville attacked down the wing. Forward #25 Leonardo Castro passed the ball across the 18-yard box to an open #9 Lyam MacKinnon. MacKinnon slid the ball past #1 Austin Pack into the bottom right corner of the net to give the Triumph a one-goal lead.
“We ran out of juice, we hit a wall physically,” Jeffries said. “We actually did okay in the beginning and then the first goal was just a poor defensive play, which is really uncharacteristic of us this year. We’ve been really solid for the most part.”
Minutes later, Greenville was on the attack again. #8 Aaron Walker found an open look from the top of the 18-yard box and took a strike at goal. The ball curled to the left side of the net zipping past Pack to put the Triumph up by two.
At the half, Charlotte Independence 0 – Greenville Triumph 2.
Greenville Triumph capitalized on the momentum and started the second half with another strong attack. Triumph’s Castro played a pass into the 18-yard box to find #10 Lucas Coutinho for a wide-open tap-in to extend their lead to three.
Head Coach Mike Jeffries went to the bench in the 61st minute to bring on #15 Carson Talboys who replaced #5 Shalom Dutey. It was Talboys’ first game back home in the 2023 USL League One campaign after suffering from injury early in the season.
“It was great to get some minutes,” Talboys said. “I always want more so it was nice to get back on the field tonight. I loved being out there with the boys and getting back at it.”
Late in the match, the Jacks earned a corner kick. #10 Miguel Ibarra crossed the ball into the 18-yard box and found Kelly for a quality header in front of net. The ball went past Greenville’s goalkeeper to give the Jacks their only goal of the night.
“I think the whole team is disappointed,” Ibarra said. “That’s not the performance we wanted to put out there. There’s nothing else we can do. We have 10 days until the next match so we keep positive, we keep going and we move on.”
The Jacks were unable to find their way back into the game and took their first loss of the 2023 USL League One season. Final from American Legion Memorial Stadium, Charlotte Independence 1 – Greenville Triumph SC 3.
NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE: The Charlotte Independence go on the road to face USL League One expansion side Lexington SC on Saturday, May 13 at 7:00 PM at Toyota Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky. Fans can stream the match for free on Bahakel Sports.
