CHARLOTTE, NC – The Charlotte Independence wrap up their Players’ Shield-winning regular season in Maine as they take on Portland Hearts of Pine. Kickoff is set for 5:00 p.m.
MATCH DETAILS:
Date: Saturday, October 24
Time: 5:00 PM
Who: Portland Hearts of Pine
Where: Fitzpatrick Stadium (Portland, ME)
What We’re Wearing: The Independence will be dressed in their Liberty Kit.
Watch: ESPN+, WCCB
THE PLAYOFFS ARE COMING TO CHARLOTTE!
USL Quarterfinals
When: November 1, 7 PM
Where: American Legion Memorial Stadium
INDEPENDENCE CLINCH PLAYERS’ SHIELD IN WIN AT GREENVILLE
The Jacks traveled down to Greenville for an I-85 rivalry clash with the Triumph with the chance to clinch the USL League One Players’ Shield with a win and a Union Omaha draw or loss vs Westchester SC. The Jacks opened the scoring in the 27th minute, courtesy of Souaibou Marou. Joey Skinner was slipped in behind before he sent a lofted cross that met the head of Marou who nodded it home for a 1-0 lead at the break. Greenville pushed for an equalizer, but a clutch intervention by Sega Coulibaly just before half and a leaping save by Matt Levy on the other side of the break kept Charlotte in front. Marou found his second in the 75th minute to double the Jacks’ lead. Pinho rocketed a shot that was saved by spilled by Seth Torman, and the Cameroonian cleaned up the mess for the vital insurance goal. Marou completed his hat trick just nine minutes later after receiving a feed from Bakero on the edge of the box and firing past Torman to give the Jacks a 3-0 win.
Moments after the match, the Independence huddled up to check the result in Omaha and saw that Westchester SC had handed the Owls their second loss in a row, winning 2-1 to give the Jacks the separation they needed in the table to clinch the first ever Players’ Shield in club history.
SEASON SERIES
The two sides met on September 2 at Matthews Sportsplex in a match that saw the Jacks pull out a dramatic 3-2 win at home. Jon Bakero got the ball rolling in the 20th minute when he back heel-flicked a feed from Clay Dimick past the keeper for a 1-0 lead. The visitors struck back through Matteo Kidd and Michel Poon-Angeron in the 59th and 65th minute, respectively. Things looked dire for the Jacks until late in stoppage time when Stefano Pinho’s scissor kick off of a pinpoint cross from Javen Romero knotted things up in the dying embers of the match. Two minutes later, Bakero’s cross was flicked on by Reudd Manin into the path of Pinho, who completed his brace to take all three points for the Jacks in dramatic fashion.
Season Series: 1-0-0
All-Time Record: 1-1-1
JEFFRIES MAKES LEAGUE HISTORY
Head Coach Mike Jeffries became the all-time winningest coach in USL League One history on Saturday, winning the 65th match of his career with the 3-0 win over the Greenville Triumph last Saturday.
CHARLOTTE’S LIST OF TEAM RECORDS GROWS
The win against Greenville was the Jacks’ 20th of the campaign, making them the first team in USL League One history to win 20 games in a single season.
BAKERO BECOMES ALL-TIME LEADER IN ASSISTS… FOR NOW
Bakero’s assist on Marou’s third goal of the night was the 17th helper of the season and the 26th of his career, making him the all-time leader in assists in USL League One history. The Spaniard passed Nils Vinyals, who currently plies his trade for Spokane Velocity. The Velocity face off against FC Naples in Florida on Saturday.
MAROU MOVES BACK AHEAD IN GOLDEN BOOT RACE
Marou’s hat trick last Saturday broke his tie with Westchester SC’s Conor McGlynn atop the leaderboard for the Golden Boot race. Marou sits at 18 league goals on the year, which is the Independence single season record. The Cameroonian has found the back of the net 20 times in 37 appearances in all competitions.
MAROU WINS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Marou’s hat trick in Greenville earned him Player of the Week honors for Week 33.
Marou’s nod is the sixth instance and fifth different of an Independence player winning Player of the Week in the league. It is also the fifth time in the last ten weeks a Jack earned Player of the Week honors.
Marou has now tallied 18 league goals this season, and has found the back of the net six times in the last three games after being held scoreless in five straight appearances. His 18 league tallies is an Independence single season record.
Bakero, Skinner and Levy also earned Team of the Week honors alongside Marou.
SCOUTING PORTLAND
Portland Hearts of Pine has struggled to find consistency in their second USL League One season, currently sitting 14th in the league on 31 points entering the last week of the season. Portland has not won since winning their second straight match by defeating AV Alta on September 13 and have lost three of their last four matches. The Hearts have also allowed multiple goal in four straight matches and have only scored more than one once in their last six matches. Goalkeeper Hunter Morse has been a bright spot this season, leading the league with 106 saves. The Hearts’ balanced attack is paced by Diego Gonzalez who has nine goals on the season while Aboubacar Camara sits second on the team with eight. Ollie Wright leads the team in goal contributions with 13 in only 23 appearances, but he will miss due to a season-ending injury. Both of Portland’s goals in the first meeting were scored within seven minutes of Wright and Camara being subbed on.
