The Charlotte Eagles finally get a different opponent.
The Nashville Metros started the game very strong and scored in the 6th minute by Jeff Houser with the assist by Jaynie Bailey. The game was played at a very up tempo and that is usually to the Eagles liking and in the in the 14th minute Nate Watkins strong shot rebounded and Dustin Swinehart was there to put it in.
Again Nashville attacked and appeared to be a little quicker and stronger and score again on a Bryan Hinkey unassisted goal at the 27 minute mark. The half time score was 2-1 Nashville.
The second half started with Nashville coming out strong and Jeff Houser scored again four minutes into the second half with the assist going to Jacob Finger.
As was the case in many games this year, the Eagles never really appeared out of the game and with their attacking style would come back again.
In the 57th the Eagles workhorse Dustin "Whitey" Swinehart made something happen in the box and was given a header by Ben Parry and scored to make it 3-2 Nashville.
The next 10 -15 minutes was great soccer with the Eagles and Nashville attacking hard.
A reoccuring theme though was that the Eagles were unable to finish and finally, Jeff Houser completed his "hat trick" by scoring his third goal with an assist from Jacob Finger.
This goal at the 73rd minute seemed to deflate the Eagles and the crowd and nothing really occurred from that point to the end.
Stats
Shots Charlotte 14 Saves Char. 2 Fouls Char. 18 Offside Char. 3 Corners Char. 1
Nashville 12 Nash. 4 Nash. 18 Nash. 0 Nash. 7
Cautions:
Charlotte: Parry, O'brien, Gonzalez, Pinch
Nashville: Devall, Hinkey
Starters:
Charlotte- Goalie Andrews, Swinehart, Johnson, Parry, Watkins, Allen, O'Brien, Galeano (Gonzalez 58th) [Johnson 83rd], Leib (Norkus 58th), Pinch (Avilez 83rd), Mouw(Gomez 69th)
Nashville- Goalie Burgman, Wall, Fisher, Mormon, Schell, Valencia, Fenger, Devall (Schmitt 87th), Bailey (Cain 56th), Hinkey (Davies 83rd), Houser (Wright 81st)
Referees:
Watson, Hampton, Frey, Goodrich
Attendence: 2,115
Game MVP : Jeff Houser
EAGLEMAN of the Match: Dustin Swinehart
Key to the game: Nashvilles' strength and Charlottes' Defensive Breakdowns
