CHARLESTON, SC (July 11, 2026) – The Charlotte Independence defeated Charleston Battery in penalties in the Prinx Tires USL Cup Saturday night to move onto the knockout round.
Matt Levy made two penalty saves in the shootout to push the Jacks through to the knockout round of the league cup for the first time in club history.
The Battery earned the first opportunity of the match as Maalique Foster was sprung in behind. The forward took it off the volley in the 7th minute, but fired directly at Matt Levy.
The Jacks got a strong chance themselves in the 18th minute. Mathis Guffroy stood up a fantastic ball to the back post for Souaibou Marou, but the striker couldn’t keep his header down.
Charleston found the first goal in the 27th minute. Foster worked off his defender and was slipped in behind, making no mistake into the bottom corner.
The Jacks equalized in sensational fashion in the 37th minute. After running down a long ball, Marou laid it off to Bakero. The Spaniard took a touch and fired from 25 yards, sneaking it into the bottom corner to level the score.
The two teams went to the halftime break knotted at one and all to play for in Group 6 in the second 45.
Charlotte took their first lead of the game nine minutes after the break. Joey Skinner completed a beautiful cross onto Marou’s head, who buried into the bottom corner to give Charlotte a foot into the knockout round.
Charleston wouldn’t go quietly and tied it up in the 59th minute. After Charlotte blocked the initial shot, the ball fell for Charleston leading scorer Colton Swan, who finished cooly.
Neither team could find a go-ahead goal and the advancing to theknockout stage depended on penalties.
After the Independence scored their first two penalties, Matt Levy made a fantastic save, denying Jeremy Kelly and then further denied Joey Akpunonu to send Charlotte through to the Prinx Tires USL Cup knockout round. Charlotte made all four of their penalties.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Mike Jeffries:
“Look, it was an unbelievably resilient effort from the group. We fought and fought together well and managed a very strong Championship club defensively fairly well, so credit to the guys on that end. Then, I thought we found a way to manufacture some chances and score. The second goal was a fantastic team effort. In the end, we hung on, and clearly Matt was huge for us throughout the game. He made incredible saves during the game and then, obviously, the penalty saves at the end.”
Jeffries on Levy in the shootout:
”That’s a pressure moment for everybody, and I thought Matt was very composed in it. He actually made good guesses on all of them and was close, but for him to be able to pull off two saves was huge. I thought the guys showed great character. Nobody went in making excuses. The guys who played stepped up today, and I thought we had a day where everybody came in and contributed. Guys came off the bench and were huge for us.”
Clay Dimick on the win:
”Obviously, we have quality. Obviously, we have really good players. But what separates this group from other teams around the league and in the USL is the mentality we have—the collective mentality, from the top down, to fight for everything. Nothing has been given to us. We’ve been ready to fight in every environment, every game, and that wasn’t any different tonight. That’s what took us over the finish line. I’m just incredibly proud of this group and of showing that we have the mentality and the quality to hang with anybody on any given day.”
Matt Levy on being clutch:
”I just want to thank Jesus for the opportunity to play this sport and play in big moments. Means the world to help the team advance for the first time.”
