LANCASTER, CA (July 6, 2026) – The Charlotte Independence and AV Alta split the points in Antelope Valley Sunday night, tying 1-1 at Lancaster Municipal Stadium.
The Independence jumped in front out west thanks to a first half Jon Bakero penalty. After absorbing pressure for the majority of the second half, AV Alta knotted the score in second half stoppage time with a penalty of their own by way of Jerry Desdunes.
While their league winning streak came to a close, the draw pushed the Independence’s unbeaten streak in all competitions to a club-record 13 matches, eclipsing the previous record of 12 set by the 2015 and 2017 squads.
Adam Aoumaich, who entered the match in scintillating form for AV Alta, produced the first chance just two minutes in. The midfielder stepped into a strike from 25 yards that forced Matt Levy into a full-stretch diving save.
Alta continued to threaten early, and Javen Romero may have prevented the opening goal in the 13th minute. Aoumaich laid the ball off to former Jack Miguel Ibarra, whose first-time effort was headed behind by Romero after the defender positioned himself perfectly in front of goal.
The Independence were awarded a penalty in the 19th minute after Alta gifted possession away in its own defensive third. Souaibou Marou capitalized on the turnover and surged into the box, where he was clipped from behind before he could get his shot away. Bakero stepped up and calmly tucked the penalty into the bottom corner for his fourth goal of the season, setting a new single-season career high for the Spaniard.
After taking a one-goal lead into the break, the Jacks spent much of the opening stages of the second half under pressure. While AV Alta controlled possession and territory, it struggled to truly test Levy, who had made four routine saves by the 70th minute. Charlotte didn’t register its first shot of the half until the 71st minute, when Christopher Jaime fired over the crossbar.
Levy came up with his biggest stop of the night in the 80th minute. With Alta pressing for an equalizer, the hosts slipped Christian Ortiz in behind the back line, but the Charlotte goalkeeper stood tall to deny the one-on-one opportunity with a superb one-knee save, preserving the Independence’s advantage.
The pressure finally paid off in the 90th minute when the Independence conceded a penalty. Miles Lyons brought down Godwin Antwi near the byline, and Jerry Desdunes calmly sent Levy the wrong way from the spot to level the match.
Alta searched for a late winner deep into stoppage time, but Charlotte held firm to secure a 1-1 draw. The result denied the Independence a chance to reclaim first place in the USL League One standings, but extended the club’s unbeaten run in all competitions to a record-setting 13 matches ahead of a massive Prinx Tires USL Cup showdown with the Charleston Battery on Saturday night.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Mike Jeffries on the result:
“This is a very hard place to come. Alta is in good form and playing well. I thought we started the game fairly well and had a couple of good moments going forward. They had a fair amount of possession, but for the most part we managed it well in the first half. We took advantage of a mistake, earned a counterattack that led to the penalty, and it was good to go into halftime up 1-0. I thought we felt fairly solid defensively. In the second half, though, we were under pressure for pretty much the entire 45 minutes. We really struggled to find the rhythm of the game and get forward. That being said, I thought we managed things defensively fairly well, and as the clock wound down, I felt like we were in a good position. Then we made a mistake at the end that led to the penalty, and they took advantage of it.”
Jeffries on the defending required in the second half:
I thought a lot of it was fairly well done. Matt did a good job commanding the back line, coming off his line, reading plays, and making a couple of big saves. Their best chances came from counter pressing us and us not dealing with those moments well enough. But overall, I thought we did a good job of staying organized, keeping our shape, and keeping the play in front of us.”
Christopher Jaime on the feelings postgame:
“We’re gutted to have conceded so late in the game, but we have to keep our heads high, especially going into Charleston for top of the table in USL Cup.”
Joey Skinner on the result:
“I think it was a tough game for us. We couldn’t find the rhythm that we typically play with, but I’m proud of the boys grinding out a point in a tough environment against a good team where we were defending for large parts of the game, especially in the 2nd half. We’ll go back and watch film on this game and try to improve as much as we can moving forward for the second half of the season.”
