Charlotte FC is in the Finals
Charlotte FC is in the Finals
You read that right: the Charlotte FC Academy Under-17 Team is in the MLS NEXT Cup Finals thanks to goals from Rocket Ritarita and Nimfasha Berchimas.
Player development has been a priority for Charlotte FC since the team was founded.
“All of the [Academy] staff, we get really great joy out of watching players grow and progress and develop,” Charlotte FC Academy executive director Brian Scales told Soccer Sheet in May. “It takes time, and patience, and persistence … you may be behind the scenes, it’s long hours, it’s ups and downs, but when you see a player like [Nimfasha Berchimas] jump in and make his professional debut, and all of these players that are being called in to Crown Legacy, that’s why we do this. It’s great.”
Now, less than a year after Crown Legacy FC’s dominant debut season, the Charlotte FC Academy’s Under-17 team could become the first team in club history to win a national final.
Charlotte FC 2, LAFC 1
Last night and into the morning, Charlotte FC’s U-17s faced LAFC in the last MLS NEXT Cup semifinal match of the day. The tournament is both a playoff and showcase for young talent. Teams from four different age groups (U-15, U-16, U-17, U-19) compete in 32-team, single-elimination brackets. Teams qualified by winning their respective group at the MLS NEXT Flex qualifying event or finishing high enough on the regular season table; Charlotte’s U-17s qualified at MLS NEXT Flex in May. This year’s tourney is being played at at Richard Siegel Soccer Complex in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, with the finals for all four age groups at Geodis Park, home of Nashville SC.
The match was supposed to begin at 10 PM, but schedule overruns - including a penalty kick battle between Philadelphia Union’s U-17s and the victorious LA Galaxy - pushed the start time to 11:15 PM ET, or 10:15 PM local time.
LAFC played fierce football in the first fifteen minutes of each half, with James Arteaga scoring a goal in the 10th minute, but seemed to run out of steam by the end of both halves. Charlotte FC worked hard to find the equalizer in the first half, outshooting LAFC 10-2, but they would have to wait. Despite the added boost of Nimfasha Berchimas, who flew in for the semifinal and possible final, Charlotte couldn’t break through. The best chance of the half came a couple of volleys after a Berchimas corner kick, with Sebastian Bourget missing a header by inches.
In the second half, defender James Nyandjo and Charlotte’s back line survived LAFC’s early barrage, opening the door for Rocket Ritarita to blast a goalzo from outside the box in the 62nd minute.
After the equalizer, it was Charlotte’s match to lose. The team dominated for the next half hour of play, continuing to push as the fourth official announced six minutes of stoppage time.
The match looked like it was going to penalty kicks, but in the 96th minute Charlotte scored a true team goal. Benjamin Gooding found a Francisco Dubon with a breakaway chance inside the area. Dubon was caught in traffic, so he found Berchimas on his left, who sent it into the right side of the goal.
Charlotte was up 2-1, and LAFC couldn’t change the result in the final seconds.
With the victory, Charlotte will play in the MLS NEXT Cup’s U-17 final this Sunday at 7:00 PM ET in Nashville. The match will stream live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.