PORTLAND, ME (October 24, 2026) – The Charlotte Independence closed out the 2026 regular season with a 4-1 defeat to Portland Hearts of Pine on Saturday evening.
Portland netted three in the second stanza to throttle ahead and close out the regular season. Joey Skinner scored Charlotte’s lone goal off another Jon Bakero assist. Thanks to clinching the Players’ Shield last Saturday, the result does not impact Charlotte’s top seeding heading into the postseason next weekend.
Charlotte will find out their quarterfinal opponent later on Saturday evening.
The Jacks made six changes to their starting 11 off the back of winning the Players’ Shield at Greenville, choosing to sit the likes of Matt Levy, Christopher Jaime, and Javen Romero among others.
It was not the start Charlotte had envisioned manpower-wise though. Less than ten minutes into the match, regular starter Reudd Manin went down following a tackle and remained on the ground, forcing Mike Jeffries into an early substitution as Miles Lyons entered in his place.
Jeffries was forced into another injury-related substitution at the half-hour mark. Fabrice Ngah pulled up after completing a pass and was unable to continue, prompting Skinner to enter in place of the fullback as Charlotte suffered its second early injury setback.
Portland grabbed the opening goal five minutes short of halftime. The Jacks lost it in Hearts’ territory and the hosts were off to the races. Michel Poon-Angeron clipped a ball over the top of Charlotte’s defense to Aboubacar Camara, who had timed his run to perfection. The forward finished calmly, slotting into the bottom corner.
Frantic end-to-end action eventually led to Charlotte tying it up. On one end, George Tasouris robbed Camara of his brace, getting down wonderfully to make a one-handed stop off the goal line. The clearance to the other end of the pitch found Souaibou Marou, who got by one before forcing Hunter Morse into a one-on-one save.
Charlotte made the ensuing corner count. Set-piece specialist Bakero delivered a pinpoint ball into the box, finding the substitute Skinner, who nodded his header into the side netting to bring the Independence level. One of the league’s hottest players, Skinner took his season tally to seven goals, while Bakero extended his lead atop the USL League One all-time assists chart.
The Hearts earned a penalty shortly after the intermission. An over-the-top ball led to a foot race between Tasouris and Walter Varela on the edge of the box. Varela got there first, touching it by the goalkeeper before being taken down. Mikey Lopez’s penalty was saved by Tasouris, but the midfielder finished the rebound to score in his final professional game.
Despite stronger passages of play from the visitors in the second half, they weren’t able to muster strong chances on Morse and Portland put the game away in the 82nd minute.
It started at the back as Charlotte turned it over through Tasouris well out of his box. Diogo Barbosa stole the ball, took a few strides before chipping it over a retreating Tasouris to make it a two-goal advantage.
Portland made it four in the 90th minute. Camara finished off his brace in lovely fashion, taking a Josh Drack cross off the hop for a stunning half-volley goal.
Charlotte will begin their charge to add to their trophy cabinet this season on Sunday night, hosting the USL Quarterfinals at American Legion Memorial Stadium at 7:00 pm. Buy your tickets here.
POST-GAME SOUND
Head Coach Mike Jeffries on the performance:
“I thought we started slowly, but somewhat expected with them, the home crowd and everything else. I actually thought we were starting to work our way back into it when they got the goal in the first half. Then, a good job on our part to come back and get the equalizer before halftime.
I actually thought the second half was moving along fine, and we got caught with another ball over the top. We got caught too many times with balls over the top. The penalty is disappointing, just in that we gave away another rebound after a good save.”
Jeffries on injury reports for Manin and Ngah:
“Reudd, we think he will be okay. He took a knock straight on his knee, so I feel like he can manage and we’ll see. Fabrice, we’ll have to evaluate when we get back. It’s more of a muscle injury…It wasn’t ideal. Obviously, we went into the game and the primary focus was to try to head into next week in as good a shape as possible.”
Jeffries on Skinner’s attacking prowess and Bakero’s MVP-caliber season:
“Joey has been fantastic. Another goal off a set piece. He’s been very good on set pieces and getting on the end of corners. But he’s also, even tonight, you can see he’s good going forward. He’s able to make passes out of the back. He’s able to make plays in the final third off crosses or decisions and passes he can play into players in dangerous spots.”
“I think even on a night like tonight, when playing in a different position, Jon still had a pretty good influence on our game with his ability to receive it, play out of pressure and find the right pass. His ability to weight the ball properly and put it in a good spot for guys is somewhat unmatched in our league.”
Joey Skinner on his goal-scoring touch heading into the postseason:
“It’s always nice to get on the scoresheet and especially more towards the end of the season as we transition into playoffs. It’s been good to help out going forward this year since that’s a part of my game I think is a strength and I hope to continue helping out. We move forward from this game and focus on next week’s playoff match.”
Jon Bakero on the result and focusing on the playoffs:
“Obviously not another result we wanted, but I feel like now the focus has to be on the playoffs. We’re excited to be back home in front of our fans and get the home support as we look to get a good result next weekend.”
