Cheat Sheet: Quick Goals Lead to Home Wins for Charlotte FC, Independence; Ascent Start Season with Away Win
Both the Independence and Charlotte FC started their matches with early goals and won 3-1. In Washington, D.C., Mia Corbin gave the Ascent the edge in a 0-1 win to kick off their short season.
Charlotte FC and the Charlotte Independence are separated by a couple of divisions, and their home fields of Bank of America Stadium and American Legion Memorial Stadium are separated by I-277, but both teams achieved similar feats on Saturday, August 15: 3-1 home wins with goals in the opening seconds of play.
At the Bank, Charlotte FC midfielder (and former Independence player) Brandt Bronico barreled though the Columbus Crew’s defense to score in the first 29 seconds of play, for the third-quickest goal in Charlotte FC history.
Soccer Sheet’s Jorge Torres spoke with Bronico on Monday about his personal record for quickest goal.
At Memorial Stadium, it took Souaibou Marou less than 120 seconds to score his first match for the Independence. Marou currently leads USL League One in goals with 11, and head coach Mike Jeffries’ side is second in the league with a game in hand.
“I don’t think we could have started any better than that. A goal two minutes in, three in the first 15, and I thought we played really, really well for that stretch,” said Jeffries. “The rest of it was a little bit of managing the game, and I felt like we let them kind of get back into it. Credit to them. Three-nothing down 15 minutes in, and they kept fighting and kept pushing, so you’ve got to give them a lot of credit for that. But the way we started the game, I just thought we were really, really sharp. The ball moved, and the goals were all really nice goals.”
Carolina Ascent Start Sprint Season Strong
A familiar face stepped up for the Carolina Ascent in their first match of the 2026 Super League Fall Season to secure a 0-1 away win against DC Power. Mia Corbin, the all-time leading scorer for the club, scored the decisive strike from point blank range off of a parabolic long ball from Addisyn Merrick.
“It definitely feels good to get the first 3 points on the road,” said Corbin. “Going in, our plan was just to earn it tonight. DC is always a tough opponent, so to secure the win is huge for us to get the momentum going this fall. I’m happy I was able to do my job tonight to help my team win.”
The Ascent end the first matchday of the Fall Season in second place, sitting one place below last year’s champions, Lexington SC. They’ll play 13 more matches — including their home opener against Tampa Bay Sun at 7:00 PM on August 29 — before the four team, two round Super League playoff starts December 5th.
NC Courage Set Record Despite Loss
Video Courtesy NC Courage
The NC Courage fell 2-3 to the Houston Dash on Sunday, August 16, but breakout Swedish star Evelyn Ijeh set a record in the process: she (10) and Ashley Sanchez (11) are just the third pair of teammates in NWSL history to both hit double-digit goals in the regular season. The previous two were Lynn Biyendolo and Jess McDonald for Western New York Flash in 2016 and Diana Ordóñez and Debinha for the Courage in 2022.
Despite the loss, the Courage are still in playoff position, sitting in sixth place as of this writing.
Crown Legacy Can Clinch Playoffs Tonight
If first place Crown Legacy FC take home one or more points in their match against independent Connecticut United FC tonight, they’ll clinch a spot in the MLS NEXT Pro playoffs.
The match starts at 7:00 PM at the Matthews Sportsplex.
Coming Up This Week
Fifth place Charlotte FC (8-7-4, 28 Points) travel to Canada tonight (August 19) to face 12th place Toronto FC (4-7-8, 20 Points). The match kicks off at 7:30 PM ET.
Soccer Sheet’s Jorge Torres asked Charlotte head coach Dean Smith about facing his former player, Josh Sargent, who Smith had coached at Norwich City F.C.
Soccer Sheet’s Sam Spencer appeared in TFC Republic this week for their scouting report feature on Charlotte FC. You can listen here (paywall).
On Saturday, August 22 the Crown return home to host DC United at Bank of America Stadium at 7:30 PM, then travel to Atlanta for the I-85 Derby on Saturday, August 29.
The sixth place NC Courage (9-7-3, 30 Points) continue their homestand, hosting 14th place Boston Legacy (5-10-5, 20 Points) for the first time in Cary.
On April 29, the Courage came back from a 2-0 deficit in Boston to come home with a point thanks to second half goals from Dani Weatherholt and Ashley Sanchez.
The match will be a homecoming of sorts for USWNT goalkeeper Casey Murphy, who spent five seasons with the Courage, appearing in 108 matches, including every minute of the 2024 season.
The second place Carolina Ascent (1-0-0, 3 Points) travel to Texas to face fourth place Dallas Trinity (0-0-1, 1 Point) on Saturday, August 22 at 8:30 PM.
The Trinity are now the westernmost team in the USL Super League after Spokane Zephyr folded earlier this year.
With a new local broadcast deal in place, you can watch this match locally on WCCB if you don’t have a Peacock subscription.
The second place Charlotte Independence (13-4-3, 42 Points) fly to Wisconsin to face third place Forward Madison (12-5-3, 39 Points) on Saturday, August 22 at 8:00 PM ET.
You only have two more opportunities to catch Carolina Core FC at home this year, including this Saturday, August 22 at 7:30 PM.
The Foxes are in 14th place, but have not been eliminated from playoff contention just yet. They face 15th place FC Cincinnati II, who have been eliminated.
They’ll be in Matthews on September 12 for the final derby of the season against Crown Legacy FC - one of five games they’d have to win to secure a playoff spot.
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Sam Spencer contributed to this story.
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