Own Goals Help Charlotte FC and Carolina Ascent FC Draw Uneven Matches
Adilson Malanda’s set piece header couldn't match a Jordan Morris brace, but Seattle’s own goal in stoppage time salvaged Charlotte’s opener. Then on Sunday, Carolina Ascent FC also battled to a draw.
Soccer Sheet’s Matches of the Week
Charlotte FC v. Atlanta United (MLS)
2:00 PM, Saturday, March 1
Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte
Carolina Core FC v. UNC Greensboro (Friendly)
5:00 PM, Saturday, March 1
Truist Point Stadium, High Point
Carolina Ascent FC v. Fort Lauderdale United FC (USL S)
3:00 PM, Sunday March 2
American Legion Memorial Stadium, Charlotte
Sloppy in Seattle: Charlotte FC Draws 2-2 Thanks to Malanda and an Own Goal
As one of the best teams in the league, the Seattle Sounders were supposed to be a challenge for Charlotte FC as they started their 2025 MLS campaign at Lumen Field in Washington state. However, sloppy play during a dreary, rainy match and a brace (two goals) from Seattle’s Jordan Morris demonstrated the Crown’s vulnerabilities.
A brilliant header from French defender Adilson Malanda off of a Pep Biel set piece equalized the score in the first half, and Seattle’s unlucky own goal in stoppage time gave Charlotte another equalizer and secured a 2-2 draw.
Malanda also scored Charlotte’s first goal of the season in 2024 from a set piece header, his only goal of the season. According to Elias Sports, Malanda became the first defender in MLS history to score in back-to-back opening weekends. Charlotte FC head coach Dean Smith made it clear after the match he wants more set piece goals from Malanda this year.
“It was a good ball from Pep, and it arrived where it was meant to, so it was nice to score from a set piece early,” said Smith at a post-match press conference. “I’m hopeful that we can be more of a threat this season [from set pieces] than we were last season. Hopefully, Adil will score a lot more goals … and he needs to be scoring more goals, as do Andrew Privett and Tim Ream.”
However, the squad was ready to forget their first match of the season as soon as they stepped off the pitch in Seattle.
“Honestly, tonight was not a good night for us,” said Malanda at a post-match press conference. “We got a point, and that’s all we need to [remember from tonight] because we were not here tonight. That was not Charlotte FC. That was not us, and I think we didn’t play the game as we should.”
2024 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Kristijan Kahlina was heroic, but Charlotte’s weak defense created too many opportunities for Seattle to break through. Malanda said it was too easy for Morris to slip by the defense and score his second goal.
“[Kahlina] wasn’t happy, for sure,” said Malanda. “We didn’t concede those types of goals last year.”
On the other end of the pitch, missed shots and missed opportunities blunted Charlotte’s attack. Seattle dominated both halves, taking 18 total shots (7 on target) to Charlotte’s 7 total shots; Malanda’s goal was Charlotte’s only shot on target.
Many of Charlotte’s misses came from winger Kerwin Vargas, who struggled to get a handle on the ball. Midfielders and wingers struggled to get the ball to striker Patrick Agyemang, who didn’t have any quality opportunities to find the net.
“We can’t use any excuses. Excuses are well-planned lies, I’ve always said that,” said Smith. “We’ve got work to do. We’ve got work on the training ground this week, that’s the only place now you can go and put it right.”
Also missing in Seattle was new designated player Wilfried Zaha, who had an excused absence from play as wife went into labor in London over the weekend. On Monday, Smith updated members of the press when Zaha was absent from an open training session, but after the child was born midweek, Zaha flew back to Charlotte.
Charlotte FC will face a revitalized Atlanta team at home on Saturday at 2:00 PM. As Carroll Walton of The Charlotte Ledger reported earlier, the club has sold 45,000 tickets for the opening match and expects up to 50,000 fans in attendance. If the estimate holds, it will be the lowest attendance for a MLS home opener at Bank of America Stadium since Charlotte joined the league.
Carolina’s “Sunday Funday” Ends in a 3-3 Draw Against DC Power, With the Ascent Climbing into Second Place
Like Charlotte FC, the Carolina Ascent needed a little help from “Own Goal” to draw this past weekend - but instead of the Seattle rain, Ascent players got a sunny Carolina day - and Girl Scout Cookies after the match.
In Carolina Ascent FC’s two previous meetings with DC Power FC, one goal was enough for Carolina to secure a win. Vicky Bruce scored the first of the two goals in the USL Super League’s inaugural match, and Renée Guion scored an early penalty when the Ascent travelled to Washington, D.C. in November.
In fact, DC Power goalkeeper Morgan Aquino has never kept a clean sheet against a team with Bruce, either in Super League play or in Australia’s A-League.
The Power struggled in the first half of the season. Forward Jorian Baucom, DC Power’s first signing, only scored one goal for the team last year and transferred to Fort Lauderdale United in January. Another forward, Mariah Lee, agreed to terminate her contract with the club. By November, the club sacked inaugural head coach Frédéric Brillant, a former MLS player.
Going into their third match at home, Carolina seemed to have other factors in their favor as well. The Ascent were coming off a win against Lexington that put the team in a three-way tie on points with Dallas Trinity and Fort Lauderdale United FC. Power captain Claire Constant was on international duty for Haiti, just one of five Power players called up this month, the most of any team in the league.
Instead, an early penalty awarded to the Power set the tone for a ping-pong style match, with the second-most combined goals scored in any USL Super League match this season, and the most goals scored in one match for either club so far.
In the first twenty minutes of play, the Carolina Ascent dominated play, taking multiple shots and even hitting the post from a Riley Parker blast.
The scoring opened when DC Power striker Nicole Douglas drew a foul from Ascent center back Jenna Butler inside the box in the 22nd minute. Katie Duong easily converted the penalty kick for the Power for her first goal of the season - and the Power’s first-ever goal against Carolina in three matches.
The momentum in the match quickly shifted from a strong Ascent performance to a tight, contested game. Going into the match, the Ascent had no wins, three losses, and one draw when their opponent scored first, and the team is still seeking ways to be resilient when falling behind.
The Ascent still dominated possession for the rest of the match, but they had trouble finding the net. Of Carolina’s 17 shots on goal, only six were on target, with two going in (in addition to Aquino’s own goal). Meanwhile, DC Power only had three shots over the course of the match, but all of them were on-target goals.
Soon after the first goal, Rylee Baisden also came close for Carolina, forcing DC Power center back Madison Wolfbauer to get in the goalkeeping business, clearing the ball off the goal line.
“I think we showed a bit of heart coming back from a goal in the first half and a goal down in the second half,” Baisden told reporters after the match. “I think we deserved the three points, but coming away with one is better than none.”
Fifteen minutes after the penalty, recent Ascent addition Parker would find Sarah Troccoli for the latter’s first goal of the season. Troccoli passed the ball to Parker through traffic at the top of the box to find a new angle, and after finding a new angle for the shot, Parker passed it back to the top of the box. Troccoli followed through with a long blast that was mishandled by Aquino and ended up in the back of the net.
“The goal was coming, so any chance we can get at the top of the box [or] around the [18 yard line] we should take,” said Troccoli in a halftime interview with broadcaster Anna Witte. “We already had three or four chances we should have put away, so I thought, let’s just go for it.”
“Sarah worked really hard in the offseason and she’s come back from a little break, and she’s looked after herself,” said Ascent head coach Philip Poole after the match. “You see what a good player she is when she’s healthy and injury-free.”
The Ascent had more good chances before entering the locker room, playing like a team that should have been up multiple goals over the efficient DC Power side.
Soon after the teams returned to the pitch, Ascent co-captain Vicky Bruce made an error clearing a ball, and DC’s Yuuka Kurosaki took advantage of the opportunity for the Power’s second goal.
Just minutes later, Carolina Ascent forward Mia Corbin intercepted a pass, giving her a one-on-one opportunity against Aquino that she easily converted for her team-leading fifth goal of the season, making the score 2-2 in the 58th minute.
The Ascent kept pressing, and minutes later earned their first lead of the match. Troccoli chased a pass, fought Power center back Amber DiOrioto to keep the ball alive on the touchline, dribbled towards the goal, and took a shot that bounced off of Aquino. As the ball bounced near the net, Wolfbauer attempted another clearance, but instead hit Aquino and watched as the ball bounced into the goal.
The demoralizing own goal should have secured 3 points for Carolina, but forward Gianna Gourley - who joined the Power during the midseason break on loan from Fort Lauderdale United FC - scored the final equalizer of the match in the 83rd minute.
“I just got pushed forward up top and we were doing a great job pressing them and keeping them in their half,” Gourley said after the match. “Their player played a bad ball back, I saw it, read the gap and just placed it in. Obviously, power to the defense because they made that possible.”
The draw put the Ascent in second place in the USL Super League with 25 points in 16 matches, five points behind a Brooklyn FC team that has a game in hand. While it wasn’t the result the Ascent wanted, Coach Poole wasn’t bothered by the back-and-forth nature of the match.
“I think it’s fantastic for our group. We’ve never really been challenged too much, or haven’t had the ability to come back from goals twice,” said Poole. “So I think there’s massive positives in that.”
The Ascent will host Fort Lauderdale United at 3:00 PM on Sunday, March 2 at American Legion Memorial Stadium before three March road matches against Spokane, Tampa Bay, and Lexington.