Charlotte FC looking to extend four-game home win streak
Offensive strides from Reyna and Gaines; U.S. Open Cup draw for Round of 16; Mother's Day in the Supporters Section; Getting Chico to Seattle — and more
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Charlotte gunning for fifth win in a row at BOA; ‘simply amazing’ home support, coach says
Charlotte FC’s supporters section during last Saturday’s Miami game (Photo by Kevin Young of The 5 and 2 Project.)
Three months into its first Major League Soccer season, Charlotte FC’s home-field advantage is undeniable. Their 4-1 record at Bank of America Stadium is among the best home records in MLS.
Charlotte defeated Inter Miami last Saturday to win its fourth consecutive game at home. The club has not lost at Bank of America Stadium since falling 1-0 to the L.A. Galaxy in its home opener in front of an MLS-record crowd of 74,479.
If Charlotte beats Montreal on Saturday, it will become the first expansion team to win five games in a row at home since Atlanta did it in 2017, and only the second MLS expansion team to do it since 2012.
Last Saturday’s crowd of 32,018 — with tickets sold in the lower bowl only — was second only to Atlanta’s 42,547 in MLS last weekend.
“Before the game, at home, we have the confidence that there is no way to lose because we feel that we have more than 11 players on the pitch,” Charlotte FC coach Miguel Angel Ramirez said after Saturday’s game. “The engagement and the commitment of the fans with this club is outstanding. … Every coach that is coming to me is saying the same: ‘What’s going on here is simply amazing. The atmosphere that you’ve got in this stadium is unbelievable.’”
Andre Shinyashiki, newly acquired forward from the Colorado Rapids, joined the fray by scoring his first goal in his first game with Charlotte. It was an electric moment, celebrating the only goal scored in a 1-0 victory. Making just as much of an impression on him, though, was the crowd noise throughout.
“It’s crazy because Miguel is trying to say something to me when I’m in the game, and I’m just looking like to him like, ‘I can't hear what you’re saying,’” Shinyashiki said. “It’s loud. The fans don’t stop singing. It’s an amazing atmosphere, and it makes a difference for us when we're on the field.”
CLT FC is in the midst of a three-game home swing with a chance to build on its streak Saturday against Montreal and May 22 against Vancouver. This might be the toughest home match-up yet, though: Montreal is unbeaten in its past seven games.
“You can like or dislike, but for me, Montreal is [the] top one in MLS right now,” Ramirez said. “How they play, how they are doing, [it] is by far the team that I like the most.”
Up Next: Charlotte (4-6-1) vs. Montreal (5-3-2)
When/Where: 7 p.m. Saturday, Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte.
How to watch: WAXN (Channel 64), Telemundo, or live stream at www.charlottefootballclub/live or on the Charlotte FC app. Local restrictions apply.
Notable:
Center back and captain Christian Fuchs is listed as questionable in the injury report by Charlotte FC after suffering a right thigh injury in last Saturday’s game. But coach Miguel Angel Ramirez said this week Fuchs was fine to return to practice and Fuchs told his social media followers: “I’ll be back.”
By virtue of being in Canada (smile), Montreal had no U.S. Open Cup game to contend with this week. Charlotte might have actually gotten a boost of energy — certainly momentum — from its midweek game, after racking up a season-high five goals in a 5-1 win over the Richmond Spiders. The Crown (as some are beginning to say) advances to the Round of 16, where it will play its first MLS opponent in the bracket at the New York Red Bulls on Monday, May 23.
Montreal is third in the Eastern Conference and enters the game on a seven-game unbeaten run, since losing to New York City FC 4-1 on March 12.
Juking Yordy: Veteran winger making moves; knocks defender off his feet
Yordy Reyna, a six-year MLS veteran, started the first two games on the front line for Charlotte FC this season before getting lost in the shuffle. About the time Miguel Angel Ramirez decided to go to a 4-4-2 formation, with only strikers Karol Swiderski and Daniel Rios up front, Reyna, a winger, was an odd man out.
Reyna has moved back to the forefront the past few weeks, though. Just as Charlotte acquired more depth on the wing, with the arrivals of Kamil Jozwiak and Andre Shinyashiki, Reyna has picked up the pace in practice. He was ripe for more action when Ramirez moved back to a 4-3-3 setup with more wingers at his disposal.
“Yordy needed to make a step like he’s doing,” Ramirez said. “He made a step in the last two, three weeks in the trainings, being more crucial for us in the last third. I’m really happy for him, and we really need that in this level.”
Reyna has been downright dynamic the past two games for Charlotte FC. He put a move on Inter Miami and U.S. National team defender DeAndre Yedlin last Saturday that literally knocked him off his feet. (See for yourself below!) Reyna assisted on the game-winning goal that day in a 1-0 victory with the perfect feed to Shinyashiki. Then in Richmond, he was unstoppable, scoring his first goal of the season and assisting two others for McKinzie Gaines.
Gaining Ground: McKinzie Gaines gets ‘brace’ (two goals) in Richmond; ‘You want more, right?’
McKinzie Gaines (right) celebrating a two-goal night in a postgame selfie with Matt Swift, a Mint City Collective member and Charlotte FC fan who got to announce Gaines as the first pick of the 2021 expansion draft when Charlotte plucked him from Austin FC.
Until this week, McKinzie Gaines might have been known better for what he didn’t do for Charlotte FC than what he did. The 23-year-old winger failed to find an open Swiderski for what looked like a sure goal in Colorado on April 23, when Charlotte had to settle for a 0-0 tie. But Gaines got vindication Wednesday in Richmond when he scored two goals in a three-minute span. Scoring two goals in a match is known in soccer parlance as a “brace.”
When asked after the game what the goals did for his mentality, he said: “You want more, right?” He added: “As a soccer player, or any professional athlete, you can never be satisfied. It was a good step today — get the goals to help the team win and advance to the next round, which is the most important, but you always want more.”
Gaines started the season-opener in Washington but has been coming off the bench since then while Charlotte acquired more players for the forward line. His speed is an undeniable weapon, though, and on Wednesday he showed the asset he can be when he adds the finishing ability on top of it.
By the way, if you’re like me and were wondering where the term “brace” for two goals comes from, here’s an explanation from David Moore of the soccer website www.the18.com.
The answer for “why are two goals called a brace” derives from an old English hunting term. When hunting, if someone were to hunt a brace of birds it would mean they shot/killed two birds on their hunting trip.
The word “brace” also has roots in Anglo-French. “Brace” is essentially another way to say pair.
Notes from the stands:
Julie Kerr and her son Zac Shaner in the Supporters Section on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Kerr.)
◼️ Mother’s Day Mayhem: How wild is the Supporters Section at a Charlotte FC game? Huntersville’s Julie Kerr, a 56-year-old second-grade teacher, got her indoctrination Saturday as an early Mother’s Day gift. Her 25-year-old son Zac took her to the Inter Miami game, complete with a visit to a pre-game tailgate, and she came out not only unscathed but excited to go back.
“You can feel the energy,” Kerr said. “The crowd stands up the entire time. I would definitely go back. It was a fun atmosphere, and they won.”
It probably helped that she and her son sat in the very back row of the East goal section and avoided the post-score beer-tossing. But she was ready for it!
“I was kind of counting on it,” Kerr said. “I had my hair up in a sloppy bun. I thought it was going to rain, probably get beer thrown on you, too, smelling like a hot mess when I go home.”
A beer-tossing moment in the Supporters’ Section. (Photo compliments of Julie Kerr.)
Kerr realizes as a huge sports fan and mother of two boys she might have a better attitude about the beer showers than some. She’s a regular at Carolina Hurricanes games, she’s been to Panthers games, she went to the Georgia-Clemson football game, and she is a season ticket holder at the Charlotte Hornets.
“It would be nice to have a section like that at a Hornets game,” Kerr said. “Sitting in a place where you know everybody is going to be crazy the whole time was nice.”
◼️ Sending Chico to Seattle: You might recognize Chico, the masked man, as Charlotte FC’s super fan. He’s a fixture on the front row of all the Charlotte FC games, wearing a menacing mask and either banging a drum or waving a flag. His real name is Antonio Sanchez — Chico is his nickname — though in full costume, he likes to be known as “La Muerte” (which is Spanish for “death”). He has been at every Charlotte FC game this season, home or away, but the upcoming trip to Seattle was not in his budget. Mint City Collective sent out a tweet with a link to a GoFundMe page, explaining Chico’s predicament at 9 a.m. on Tuesday with a goal of raising $2,000 to send him to Seattle. By 6:30 p.m. that night, fans had donated $2,105.
Chico Sanchez, Mint City Collective board member and Super Fan, in full game-day attire. (Photo courtesy of Mint City Collective.)
◼️ Ukraine fundraiser: Speaking of money raised, Glory Days Apparel announced this week that it raised $3,600 in T-shirt sales to donate to Unicef for aid in Ukraine. Glory Days designed a “No More War” T-shirt for Ramirez after he spoke out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Ramirez wore the shirt during Charlotte’s inaugural home game in front of 74,479 fans at Bank of America Stadium.
Correction
An article in Fútbol Friday last week misidentified the national team that veteran player Christian Fuchs once captained. It is Austria’s, not Australia’s — whoops! Apologies for the few extra letters in there.
Previous editions of Fútbol Friday
You can find previous issues of The Charlotte Ledger’s Fútbol Friday newsletter online.
Carroll Walton is a longtime baseball writer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution now cutting her teeth on soccer and the Charlotte FC just as fans in Charlotte do. She would love to hear from you. E-mail her with questions, suggestions, story ideas and comments!
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project