Charlotte Eagles 1 – 0 New Hampshire Phantoms

By Jerry Sumner, uslfans.com Match Reporter

 

Date/Time:  June 3, 2006 at 8:00 p.m.

Location: E.E. Wadell High School, Charlotte, NC

Game Conditions:  Partly Cloudy, 80 degrees

Attendance: 1,350

 

Previous Match-ups:

 

May 27 - Charlotte 2 – 0 New Hampshire

 

Next Eagles Games:

 

Richmond Kickers

Saturday June 10 at 7:30 p.m.

 

Cincinnati Kings

Saturday June 17 at 7:30 p.m.

 

Harrisburg City Islanders

Wednesday June 21 at 7:30 p.m.

 

Next Eagles Home Game:

 

Pittsburgh Riverhounds

Saturday June 24 at 7:30 p.m.

E.E. Wadell High School

 

 

Game Preview

 

The Charlotte Eagles enter the 8^th game of the 2006 coming off a strong three game performance on the road.  They first traveled to Wilmington - never an easy place to play.  The Eagles played well and held a 3 – 1 lead in the 76^th minute before giving up two late goals and holding on for the tie.  A tie against the Hammerheads in Wilmington is generally a good result but this one felt more like a loss due to the late lead.  The Eagles then traveled to Western Mass. and New Hampshire for back-to-back games.  The rematch of the 2005 championship game went to the Eagles 2 – 1 and the second game of the weekend against New Hampshire also went to the Eagles by a score of 2 – 0.  A team that has been searching for its offense seems to have found it.  The defense seems to have regrouped as well.  Hopefully, this is the start of some momentum for the Eagles as they make another run to the playoffs.

 

Game Summary

 

The New Hampshire Phantoms came to Charlotte after an emotional game the night before in Wilmington against the Hammerheads.  NH scored in the 90^th minute of that game to break a scoreless tie and take the win.  It would have been natural for the Phantoms to be satisfied with three points on this difficult trip through North Carolina but they came to Charlotte ready to play and took it to the Eagles in the first half.  It wasn’t so much that they dominated the statistics but they controlled tempo, possession and had the Eagles on the defensive for most of the half.

 

New Hampshire got the first good look at the goal in the 8^th minute.  The ball was well played up the left side and the Eagles defense was slow to react.  The ball was crossed cleanly to the top of the six yard box where a header was sent just wide to the left.  In the 10^th minute, Gomes gathered in the ball just inside the 18-yard box and dribbled by a defender.  He was deep into the box when he took a point blank shot that went straight to Chris McClellan who blocked the shot but the ball stayed in play.  Gomes got the rebound and took another shot but his angle was bad the ball hit the side netting.

 

In the 18^th minute the Eagles got their first good look at the goal.  Josh Rife took a free kick near the midfield stripe and sent the ball deep into the box to the left side.  Jacob Coggins got a head on the ball, redirecting it to Dustin Swinehart on the right side.  Dustin’s first touch was just off and the Phantoms defense collapsed on him before he could collect the ball and get off a shot.

 

Another good opportunity for New Hampshire came in the 26^th minute.  Barbosa received a nice leading pass near midfield and he was behind most of the Eagles defense.  Josh Rife took a good angle and ran Barbosa down and forced him wider than he wanted to go.  By the time Barbosa took a shot, he was too wide and too deep to and his shot went directly to a waiting McClellan. 

 

The Eagles next scoring chance came in the 32^nd minute.  Patrick Daka ripped a shot from 22 yards that absolutely froze Matthew Parsons.  He watched helplessly as the ball at first seemed to be heading for the top right corner of the goal.  The ball was rising slightly and was just high enough by the time it reached the goal to skip off the top crossbar.

 

Josh Rife took one for the team in the 32^nd minute.  A Phantom forward was open and ready to shoot and Josh was the only Eagles defender close enough to make any attempt to stop the shot.  He couldn’t get in front of him in time so all he could do was stick a foot out to try to hit the ball.  It worked but it also lead to a direct kick into an unprotected part of his leg.  Josh was in obvious pain as the ball was pushed up field by the Eagles and he actually took a knee for a moment.  Then in the 34^th minute, still limping from the previous play, Josh made another play that prevented another disaster for the Eagles.  A terrible back pass by the Eagles defense left the ball between a New Hampshire forward and the Eagles keeper.  Josh ran in from the side to just beat the onrushing forward and push the ball out of danger.  These plays never show up anywhere in the statistics but they are typical of the kind of plays Rife makes game after game and they are the reason he was the Defender of the Year for 2005.

 

The 2^nd half was a different game for the Eagles.  Whether it was tired legs for the Phantoms or the Eagles picking up the pace of play, they controlled most of the play in this half.  It started early as the Eagles nearly scored in the 48^th minute.  The ball was played into the six yard box and a shot was taken.  Parsons went to the ground to block the shot but couldn’t wrap up the ball.  As it rolled loose Daka was taken down but was still kicking at the ball while he was on the ground.  Finally the New Hampshire defense was able to push the ball out of bounds and out of danger. 

 

In the 52^nd minute Daka had a clean header off a corner kick that just went wide left.  In the 54^th minute, Dustin Swinehart had an open look that was rushed and his shot went over the goal.  Again, in the 59^th minute Swinehart found he was open for a shot but his touch was off and the defense was able to close in to prevent a good shot on goal.  In the 64^th minute, off another corner kick Clay Roberts rose above the defense to get a good header on goal but Parsons was able to respond to the play and made the save.  Finally, the pressure by the Eagles led to a goal.  On a play that didn’t seem to be particularly dangerous, Joseph Kabwe worked the ball to the top of the 18 yard box.  He sent a quick pass into Dustin Swinehart who was surrounded by the Phantoms defense.  Swinehart lofted a pass to Patrick Daka about 25 yards out.  Daka controlled the ball with his chest and volleyed a quick hard shot through a small opening in the Phantoms defense.  The shot wasn’t ripped like the earlier one, but was well struck with a lot of topspin.  The ball landed just inside the top of the six yard box and the topspin caused it to bounce higher than was expected.  It caught everyone by surprise and Parsons wasn’t able to react quickly enough to the bounce.  He completely laid out to try to deflect the shot but it was too late as the ball hit the back of the net.

 

Somehow it seemed everyone knew this one goal was going to be enough to win on this particular night.  What little energy the Phantoms had was gone and the Eagles were reenergized by the goal.  Both teams mounted some offensive pressure in the remaining minutes of the game but the score ended with the Eagles up by one.

 

 

Final Thoughts

 

The Eagles won this game against a very good opponent despite a generally poor performance.  Their passing was off all night and at times the defense was slow to react to New Hampshire’s attack.  Chris McClellan was at the top of his game and had nine saves on the night.  Patrick Daka and Dustin Swinehart played well together at forward.  However, this team travels to Richmond next week and to Cincinnati the week after.  They will have to play much better as a team to have a chance to win against either of these clubs on the road.

 

 

Injury Update

 

Patrick Daka played this game with a soft cast on his fractured left hand.  The injury occurred last weekend and did not seem to impact his play.  The Eagles came out of this game without significant additional injury although a number of the players were wearing ice as they left the field.  It is not unusual for a few guys to be on ice, but it was most of the team.  This was a cleanly played, but very physical game.

 

 

Game Statistics

 

    Charlotte Eagles                                         New Hampshire Phantoms