MATTHEWS, NC (April 1, 2025) – Second-half substitute #26 Souaibou Marou netted his first Jacks goal in the first half of extra time to advance Charlotte Independence into the US Open Cup Third Round, defeating Carolina Core 2-1 at Mecklenburg County Sportsplex Tuesday night.
For the second consecutive US Open Cup match, the Jacks went beyond regulation time to get the win.
The Jacks started the game with a bang. On a play that at first looked harmless, #7 Luis Alvarez swooped in and picked Carolina Core goalkeeper #1 Andrew Pannenburg’s pocket and finished into the empty net to give the Independence an early 1-0 lead in the 2nd minute.
After Alvarez’s goal, Carolina Core controlled play for the first 20 minutes. Jacks goalkeeper #28 Matt Levy was called into action in the 7th minute, denying Carolina Core attacker #20 Derek Cuevas on a 1-on-1 opportunity.
However, three minutes later, the Foxes went back on the counter attack and #13 Josuha Rodriguez buried a #14 Jathan Juarez cross at the back post to level the game.
The Jacks got back on the attack for the rest of the half, controlling possession in the Carolina Core half. #15 Rafael Jauregui had two excellent chances. The first chance came off a string of beautiful passes from the Jacks, leading to Pannenburg stopping Jauregui from in-close. Alvarez set up Jauregui for his second chance, which he narrowly curled by the post from 15 yards out.
Despite the frenetic attempts in front of goal, the score remained 1-1 after 45 minutes.
Both teams settled down defensively in the second half and the second half yielded far less Grade-A scoring opportunities.
Levy stood tall in the Jacks’ net, stopping a #6 Juan Pablo Rodriguez volley in the 58th minute.
Jauregui played the role of playmaker in the 81st minute, setting up substitute Marou, but he was denied by a strong left leg save from Pannenburg.
Carolina Core nearly left Matthews with the win in the 88th minute as a clipped in cross just missed the outstretched boot of Josuha Rodriguez, who was alone in front of Levy.
However, the game would need 120 minutes to have a winner.
And for the second US Open Cup match in a row, the Jacks found the go-ahead goal quickly in extra time. #9 Jon Bakero played a gorgeous over-the-top ball to Marou, who chipped it over Pannenburg from a difficult angle to give the Jacks a 2-1 lead.
After tempers flared at the extra time break, the Jacks locked it down defensively to clinch a berth in the third round of the country’s most prestigious club tournament.
QUOTES:
Head Coach Mike Jeffries on tonight’s battle with Carolina Core:
“We’ve saw them twice in preseason and three times within a month and a half. I thought we dictated the game until they made it 1-1. The second half played out fairly evenly and we made the winning play.”
Jeffries on handling US Open Cup alongside USL League One games:
“All teams at this point in the season are coming together. It’s still early in the season and there’s so many good moments we have, but there are so many things we know we have to better at, and Carolina Core certainly gave us a good test and caused some issues.”
Jon Bakero on what he saw on the game-winning goal:
“I saw a lot of space and took the ball inside. Marou is super fast and I tried to give him a little bit of space so he can finish. The credit goes to him because that was an unbelievable finish. It’s huge for us to move on in the cup and tells us a lot about this team and the grit we have.”
Captain Clay Dimick on what it means to reach the US Open Cup Third Round:
“It’s huge. We set a goal to be the last team in our division standing and that game is just another step towards that goal. I think it shows everything about the mentality of this team that we are going to put everything we have into every game.”
