The Eagles were playing their first match at East Mecklenburg having played two home games at UNC-Charlotte.
After a day of steady rain the field was looking slick but not too muddy and the rain was mostly just drizzle. The Eagles were looking to take advantage of the Lynx Friday night late game with Atlanta. Their starting lineup was being juggled due to some injuries and the Lynx lineup was also muddled due to their rough house play. Both teams sloshed through the first 35 minutes but the Eagles opened up the scoring with two goals in a three minute period.
In the 37th minute the Eagles' Rob Mouw took a pass from Carlos Calderson just outside the box and blasted a shot off the post and by Lynx goalkeeper Theo Zagar for a 1-0 lead. Three minutes later Jose Gomez and Dustin Swinehart combined on a beautiful "give and go" and the Eagles' talented forward buried his second goal of the season for a 2-0 lead.
The Eagles got a break in the 49th minute when Toronto's Milan Kojic received a red card for a serious foul play after elbowing Swinehart in the head. Kojic's ejection left the Lynx with only ten players for the rest of the match. Despite being down a man for most of the second half, Toronto pressured Charlotte's goal with 13 shots but didn't score until the final minute. The Lynx finally got on the board in the 90th minute of the match when Bayette Smith headed in a corner kick by Nikki Vignjevic to pull within one at 2-1.
In injury time Toronto had two good chances to tie but Marco Reda's shot skimmed off the post and Aaron Benjamin's dangerous try from 15 yards out sailed wide. The final three minutes the Eagles Fans held their breath but the Eagles and goalie Richard Goddard were not about to let this game go "slip sliding away".
SCORING:
Charlotte - 37th minute - Rob Mouw (1st) ,,,assist Carlos Calderson
Charlotte - 40th minute - Dustin Swinehart (2nd),,,,,,assist Jose Gomez
Toronto - 90th minute - Bayette Smith (1st) ,,,,,,assist Nikki Vignjevic
Score By Half 1st 2nd TOTALS
Toronto 0 1 1
Charlotte 2 0 2
Shots By Half 1st 2nd TOTALS
Toronto 7 13 20
Charlotte 5 4 9
Saves By Half 1st 2nd TOTALS
Toronto 1 2 3
Charlotte 3 3 6
Fouls By Half 1st 2nd TOTALS
Toronto 8 4 12
Charlotte 9 13 22
Offsides By Half 1st 2nd TOTALS
Toronto 1 1 2
Charlotte 5 3 8
Corners By Half 1st 2nd TOTALS
Toronto 1 8 9
Charlotte 0 1 1
Cautions:
Toronto: 28th Yellow Ashton
49th Red Kojic- Elbow to the back of the head
73rd Yellow Reda
82nd Yellow Aristodemo
Starting Lineups:
Charlotte
GK - Richard Goddard
D - Chris Allen
D - Hugo Galeano
D - Dwyane Demmin
D - Derek Avilez
MF - Andy McDermott
MF - Leo Garjardo
MF - Carlos Calderson (Sub 82nd minute - Andy Guastaferro)
MF - Rob Mouw (Sub 68th minute - Jeremy Sorzano)
F - Jose Gomez (Sub 82nd minute - Jacob Coggins)
F - Dustin Swinehart
Toronto
GK - Theo Zagar
D - Marco Reda
D - Milan Kojic
D - Adrian Serioux,
D - Brian Ashton (Sub 86th minute - Diego Santillana)
MF - David Diplacido (Sub 46th minute - Elvis Thomas)
MF - Robbie Aristodemo (Sub 86th minute - Aaron Benjamin)
MF - Nikki Vignjevic
MF - Joe Mattachione (Sub 75th minute - Bayette Smith)
F - Niki Budalic
F - Irasto Knights
Officials:
Referee - Jason Annoy
Asst. Ref - Alex Almaguer
Asst. Ref - Erik Krajewski
4th Official - Jon Frey
Attendance: 536
EAGLEMAN OF THE MATCH: GOALIE RICHARD GODDARD
