Independence Beat Carolina Core in Open Cup, Will Host NCFC in Round Three
The Independence defeated the Foxes in the first-ever competitive meeting between the two teams. Longtime rival North Carolina FC will travel to Charlotte for Open Cup Round Three on April 15.
Tempers ran hot as Carolina Core FC took their second round Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match against the Charlotte Independence into overtime, with a couple of tense confrontations almost coming to blows.
“People play with passion and sometimes it spills over,” Carolina Core head coach Donovan Ricketts told Soccer Sheet after the match. “It was just players being players.”
“I think it happens in games like that,” said Charlotte Independence captain Clay Dimick after the match. “When it goes into overtime, everybody thinks they’re gonna win. It’s a cup game, so it’s do-or-die … when it’s do-or-die there’s something extra on the line, so I think it’s just that the emotions get the best of some guys.”
“We have another game to play, so we didn’t want to get any stupid red cards, Dimick added.
Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round Two
Charlotte Independence vs. Carolina Core FC
Tuesday, April 1
7:30 PM EDT
Mecklenburg County Sportsplex at Matthews
Matthews, NC
Final Score: 1-1, 2-1 (a.e.t.)
Charlotte Independence Goals
Luis Álvarez 2’
Souaibou Marou 93’
Carolina Core FC Goals
Josuha Rodríguez 10’
Sam’s Man of the Match
Souaibou Marou
Though this was the first time the teams have met in a competitive match, the teams have played closed-door friendlies in the preseason.
“We’ve seen each other three times [this year], and obviously familiarity doesn’t always make good neighbors,” Charlotte Independence head coach Mike Jefferies told reporters after the match. “It was a hard game.”
An early goal for Charlotte’s Luis Álvarez in the 2nd minute, followed by a 10th minute equalizer from Carolina’s Josuha Rodríguez, made for a chaotic start, but wasn’t demonstrative of how the next 110 minutes would play out.
Álvarez hustled down field to earn his goal, taking advantage of a major mistake by Carolina Core goalkeeper Andrew Pannenberg. Core center back Ibrahim Covi played the ball back to Pannenberg as Álvarez ran towards Covi, and then the keeper. Pannenberg took his time trapping the ball, seemingly unaware of Álvarez, and as Pannenberg attempted to play the ball upfield, Álvarez dispossessed him, circled around Pannenberg, and scored on an open net.
It was the kind of effort Independence coach Mike Jeffries expects from the attacking midfielder.
“Having Luis Alvarez come back is huge for us,” Jeffries told Soccer Sheet in a preseason interview. “You know he was such a a strong player for us, whether he played as a an attacking midfielder, wide, or [as an 8]. He's developed into one of the top players in [USL League One] and a guy that we think has just a huge upside as well.”
The Core woke up immediately, dominating the next eight minutes. Eventually the Foxes would find their goal thanks to a familiar face: Josuha Rodríguez, who has now scored 5 of Carolina Core FC’s 10 Open Cup goals across two competitions.
In the 10th minute, Jacob Evans played the ball long upfield to Jathan Juarez. Juarez crossed from the byline to Derek Cuevas, who flicked the ball to Rodríguez on the left. Rodríguez easily put the ball in the back of the net.
“They played a great ball across the field, but we got caught,” said Jeffries. “We didn’t shift well, and we were in bad spots defensively.”
The next eighty minutes were largely uneventful. The Foxes would end up controlling possession (62% to 38%) and lead in shots (19 to 12), so Charlotte focused on not making another mistake after conceding the first goal.
Jeffries said he made some defensive adjustments to help the Independence adjust to the Core’s wide play, while Dimick kept his teammates focused.
“The mentality going into it was the biggest thing we wanted to harp on,” said Dimick. “From minute one to minute 120, the mentality was there. [As a captain, that’s all I can ask for … I think in years past we might have missed that, but through these first four games of the season, you can already see that the group mentality to do whatever it takes to win is there.”
Though he was disappointed with the final result, Coach Ricketts saw a lot of good in the Foxes’ performance.
“It's a lot of positives from the game, because we controlled the game with the with the ball, so they were on the back foot,” said Ricketts. “We gave them a gold early, and then we started playing our football. We played our football, we controlled the tempo of the game. But the thing is, if if we don't put our chances away, if we keep considering like that, we won't win a lot of games, even if we have much of the ball.
Once the match reached overtime Charlotte finally broke through.
Early in the first extra time period, Charlotte’s Christian Chaney dispossessed the Core’s Jonathan Bazaes. Chaney brought the ball up the field then played it back to Jon Bakero, who sent the ball back to left back Fabrice Ngah. Ngah played it back up to Bakero, who found Souaibou Marou on the run. Marou cut to the left as Pannenberg held steady at the corner of the goalbox. Marou found an opening, chipped the ball over Pannenberg, and sank the winner in the back of the net.
Charlotte’s quality didn’t surprise the Foxes, and the feeling went both ways.
“This is what we were expecting because we know they have some feisty characters, and we have feisty characters as well,” said Ricketts. “So when you put those on the field, it's gonna be a clash, but it was a competitive game. It was a good team we played against, well-organized defensively.
“They certainly put a good test to us and caused us some issues defensively,” said Jeffries. “This match was a harder match [than round one] for sure, the Core’s a very good team, super well-organized and very fit … no question, this was a tougher game.
North Carolina FC Travels to Charlotte
The Independence will continue their Open Cup run on Tuesday, April 15, at 7 PM EDT at Mecklenburg County Sportsplex at Matthews as they host North Carolina FC. The match will be streamed on Paramount+.
NCFC and the Independence met three years in a row in the Open Cup between 2015 and 2017. NCFC holds the series record in the competition, 2-1, with a combined score of 9-2. The two sides also met in the 2023 USL League One title match and will meet on April 25 in the Jägermeister Cup.
NCFC advanced to the Round of 32 in last year’s competition, beating Carolina Core FC before falling to Phoenix Rising in a 2-1 extra time thriller between the reigning champions of the USL’s two professional divisions. The Independence fell in the Round of 32 to Atlanta United.
Matchups for the Round of 32 will be drawn on April 17. That draw will determine matches for both the Round of 32 and Round of 16. Any seeding in place for the Third Round will not factor into the Round of 32 draw.
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