Washington, PA;
The Charlotte Eagles Pro Soccer team gave Pittsburgh its first home loss of the season with goals from Jacob Coggins and Joseph Kabwe tonight at Falconi Field.
Charlotte started the game strong, controlling much of the possession and pushing the attack for the first 20 minutes. In the 23rd minute, it finally paid off as Eagles defender Aaron Faro took a throw-in, and got the ball to Coggins who beat a defender and put the ball past the keeper into the net. Tonight was Coggins’ first start and first goal since coming back from injury.
Charlotte maintained its attack and kept possession in the first half, and was close to extending its lead when Eagles’ recently signed forward Andriy Budnyy blasted a shot off the post before halftime. The first half ended with Charlotte up 1-0.
Pittsburgh picked up its play to start the second half and began to build pressure on the Charlotte defense with the help of Pittsburgh’s all-time leading scorer David Flavius, who entered the game in the 65th minute. Flavius made an immediate impact, and that appeared to pay dividends one minute later as he was awarded a penalty kick when he got tangled up with Eagles Keeper, Dan Benton. Unfortunately for the Hounds, Benton came up with a huge save on the penalty kick to keep the Eagles up 1-0 as he dove far to his right to deny Flavius.
Benton’s save became much more critical 2 minutes later as Joseph Kabwe received a pass from Chris Lemons just after the penalty kick save, and scored what proved to be the game winner.
Although down 2 goals, Pittsburgh continued to play well and finally made the score 2-1 off of a great volley shot from Stephen Mellor. Pittsburgh continued to stay on the attack for the rest of the game, but was unable to penetrate the Eagles defense as the game ended with a 2-1 score in favor of Charlotte.
With the win, Charlotte improves to 7-3-6 with 27 points and strengthens its hold on 2nd place in the USL-2. Pittsburgh drops to 5-4-6 with 21 points and remains in a tie for 4th place with Harrisburg. Pittsburgh will try to put the loss behind them as they host the Long Island Rough Riders this Saturday.
The Eagles will now travel back home to Waddell Stadium to face inter-state rival, the Wilmington Hammerheads on Saturday, July 22nd at 8pm. The game is part of a doubleheader with the Lady Eagles facing Central Florida at 5:30pm in a crucial match with playoff implications. Tickets can be purchased at www.CharlotteEagles.com or by calling 704-841-8644 ext.32
PARTY WITH THE EAGLES! Come out to Outback Steakhouse on Pineville/Matthews Rd. after Saturday’s doubleheader for a post-game party with your Charlotte Eagles. Get to know the Eagles players and staff, as well as eating some great food from Outback Steakhouse!
CHARLOTTE EAGLES SOCCER It's much more than a Game!
