Charlotte (NC) — The Charlotte Independence professional soccer team notched their third win in as many preseason games following a rain-soaked 1-0 victory over in-state, rivals North Carolina FC on Saturday afternoon. While a flawless record is a nice story, in the context of preseason, it’s a footnote.
“Three games, three wins; that's not easy to do,” said Independence forward Enzo Martinez. “It was a good result to get a win against a rival team in tough conditions. But the important thing was getting the idea of what we want to build every game. We made a step in the direction of getting to the identity of how we want to play this season. ”
Martinez was the lone goal-scorer in a game where the starters progressed to playing until the 60-minute mark and it rained for the majority of the afternoon. In those conditions, it’s tough to get a true read on the team’s level of play, but for Head Coach Jim McGuinness, there’s a lot of positives to take away in what he thought was the best result of the preseason.
“With the rain, we were fortunate to get the game at all,” said McGuinness. “That’s a big plus for us because if we don't get the game it would've been a let down on the back of this week's work in training. It wasn't perfect, by no means, but it's building blocks.
“It was another notch up in terms of competition and that will continue through the preseason.”
In the first two preseason games, the Independence defeated Duke University 3-2 and Lenoir Rhyne University 2-1. More important than the results, it was the first two opportunities the players got to experiment with McGuinness’ gameplan.
“When you get a new coach with a new style and ideas, it takes time for everyone to learn,” said Martinez. “The second game we played against Lenoir Rhyne helped us see the things we weren't understanding and [the North Carolina FC] game was about applying those things.”
Martinez is one of twelve players announced to the 2019 squad. Obviously, the current roster is incomplete from where it’ll end up with the final player count projected to total low to mid 20s.
“We still have a lot more players to come in,” said McGuinness. “We have some visas that are in the works to be approved, so that will bring players in and we'll continue to add to the squad into the preseason and maybe into the start of the season. We're very fortunate to have a good core group of players and they're helping drive the process right now.”
Charlotte (NC) — The Charlotte Independence professional soccer team notched their third win in as many preseason games following a rain-soaked 1-0 victory over in-state, rivals North Carolina FC on Saturday afternoon. While a flawless record is a nice story, in the context of preseason, it’s a footnote.
“Three games, three wins; that’s not easy to do,” said Independence forward Enzo Martinez. “It was a good result to get a win against a rival team in tough conditions. But the important thing was getting the idea of what we want to build every game. We made a step in the direction of getting to the identity of how we want to play this season. ”
Martinez was the lone goal-scorer in a game where the starters progressed to playing until the 60-minute mark and it rained for the majority of the afternoon. In those conditions, it’s tough to get a true read on the team’s level of play, but for Head Coach Jim McGuinness, there’s a lot of positives to take away in what he thought was the best result of the preseason.
“With the rain, we were fortunate to get the game at all,” said McGuinness. “That’s a big plus for us because if we don’t get the game it would’ve been a let down on the back of this week’s work in training. It wasn’t perfect, by no means, but it’s building blocks.
“It was another notch up in terms of competition and that will continue through the preseason.”
In the first two preseason games, the Independence defeated Duke University 3-2 and Lenoir Rhyne University 2-1. More important than the results, it was the first two opportunities the players got to experiment with McGuinness’ gameplan.
“When you get a new coach with a new style and ideas, it takes time for everyone to learn,” said Martinez. “The second game we played against Lenoir Rhyne helped us see the things we weren’t understanding and [the North Carolina FC] game was about applying those things.”
Martinez is one of twelve players announced to the 2019 squad. Obviously, the current roster is incomplete from where it’ll end up with the final player count projected to total low to mid 20s.
“We still have a lot more players to come in,” said McGuinness. “We have some visas that are in the works to be approved, so that will bring players in and we’ll continue to add to the squad into the preseason and maybe into the start of the season. We’re very fortunate to have a good core group of players and they’re helping drive the process right now.”
