Charlotte FC travels to Orlando for decisive first-round game
Setting the scene for 'do-or-die' Game 3 matchup; Plus: who starts at striker?; Biel glad to be back in action; and more
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Charlotte faces second straight must-win game in best-of-three Round One series; Kahlina says Orlando needs to ‘feel’ Charlotte FC this time
Charlotte FC’s back is against the wall in Orlando. The team needs another strong performance by Adilson Malanda and the backline. (Photo by Kevin Young of The 5 and 2 Project.)
Since Charlotte’s first road trip of the season — Dean Smith’s first as a manager in Major League Soccer — the outspoken Brit has bristled at the fuss about how hard it is to win on the road in MLS. Even after a five-hour plane ride across three time zones and the Canadian border to Vancouver, into a stadium where few visiting fans ventured, Smith still didn’t use it as an excuse.
“I mean, at the stage of the season for me, that wasn’t a problem,” Smith said afterward. “… The travel was OK, to be honest, and I said that to the players as well, ‘I’m sure there's going to be journeys later on during the season, which are going to feel a lot harder.’”
Cue Saturday night. Charlotte FC travels to Orlando for the decisive Game 3 of the Round One playoff series. The game is at 6 p.m. The winner advances to play the winner of the best-of-three Round One series between Miami and Atlanta.
If Charlotte beats Orlando and Atlanta manages to upset Lionel Messi and Miami Saturday night at 8 p.m., Charlotte would host a one-and-done conference semifinal game at Bank of America Stadium on Nov. 23 or 24. If Miami and Charlotte win, a conference semifinal would be played in Miami. [MLS playoffs pause next week for an international break. All the more reason why MLS is considering flip-flopping its season schedule.]
But first thing’s first.
A flight to Orlando is a breeze, the weather is not hot in Florida this time of year, and only 17,787 showed for Game 1 at the 25,500-seat Inter&Co Stadium. [Charlotte FC had 40,000-plus at an electric Bank of America atmosphere last Friday, by comparison.] Tickets to Game 3 in Orlando were going for $9 and $10 apiece on stubhub.com on Thursday night.
But….Orlando, which is 7-6-4 at home this season, has lost just once at home since July 1, outscoring opponents 20-2 in eight league matches during that time. The only loss came on Decision Day against Atlanta United 2-1 after Duncan McGuire’s tying goal was erased for a hand ball by VAR in the 89th minute. The stretch includes a pair of 2-0 defeats against Charlotte — Sept. 18 during the regular season and Oct. 27 in Game 1.
Charlotte FC, by all accounts, came out flat in the first half of that last game and paid with a 2-0 loss. Smith and Charlotte FC players used words like “nervy” and “untidy” to describe how Charlotte failed to meet the moment.
The opposite proved true Friday night at The Bank, where Charlotte FC dominated Game 2 defensively, created the dangerous chances offensively and won a shootout after the game was tied 0-0 at the end of regulation. Goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina made two saves while allowing just one goal in four attempts, and Charlotte FC scored on shots by Karol Swiderski, Patrick Agyemang and Ashley Westwood.
The challenge now is to carry that momentum to Orlando.
“We need to go there with more courage,” Kahlina said. “They need to feel us.”
Hundreds of Charlotte fans traveling to Orlando
Charlotte FC fans are trying to help the cause Saturday night. The club secured more than twice as many tickets for Game 3 — 500 of them, compared with 200 for Game 1 on Oct. 27 — and is supplying three chartered buses for supporters’ groups. That doesn’t include Charlotte fans who are buying tickets independently.
It also just so happens that two of Charlotte FC’s Academy teams are playing in Orlando on Saturday, so the U-18 and U-16 teams will be joining Charlotte fans at Inter&Co Stadium.
Charlotte FC is sponsoring a pre-game party from 2 to 4 p.m. at Rivals Orlando, and then fans are invited to walk one-half mile together to the stadium. If it’s anything like the vibe traveling fans brought to Atlanta for Charlotte’s 3-2 win on June 2, it’ll carry weight.
“Our supporters have been everything for us this season,” Smith said. “The amount of emails and mail I’ve had from supporters after last Friday, and what a night that was for them. It was great to see so many there enjoying themselves and partying. Let’s hope we can now go down [to Orlando] and do them proud again. And the Hornets won [Wednesday] night. The Panthers won last week. Maybe this is a renaissance for the city.”
Four Charlotte FC players (from left) Nikola Petkovic, Kristijan Kahlina, Liel Abada and Idan Toklomati watched the Hornets defeat the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night from courtside seats. (Photo courtesy of the Charlotte Hornets.)
Who starts at striker? Charlotte still searching for first goal of series in open play
Almost as intriguing as having two capable strikers as different as Karol Swiderski and Patrick Agyemang is figuring out which one will start. Just when you think you have Dean Smith pegged these days, he makes a different choice.
After Swiderski, the more technical European player, got the nod but struggled in Game 1 in Orlando, Smith went with the younger, brasher Patrick Agyemang for the start in Game 2. Who gets the starting nod Saturday night for Game 3 is just part of the intrigue now.
If Smith goes off who played well, and how the team fared, in the previous game, Agyemang seems the logical choice. But he also pointed out after Friday’s game his decision to sit Swiderski for Game 2 also had to do in part with winger Pep Biel being suspended for that game. Swiderski benefits more from the buildup provided by a playmaker like Pep Biel. Agyemang is a big target where teammates can boom the ball deep and see what he does with it.
One thing that’s proven true in recent weeks: Whichever one starts, the other hasn’t pitched a fit. He’s stayed mentally ready and come on to contribute when called upon. That wasn’t always the case last year for Swiderski, who couldn’t resist mopey body language when he got the occasional hook from former coach Christian Lattanzio.
The ever-colorful Smith explained it this way, “We've got a ‘no d—khead’ policy at the club, and we certainly don’t have that.”
Need we say more?
Patrick Agyemang (above) got the start Friday at striker over Karol Swiderski. (Photo by Kevin Young of The 5 and 2 Project.)
Biel glad to be back for Game 3 after red card suspension
As jubilant as more than 40,000 Charlotte FC fans were at Bank of America Stadium on Friday after Charlotte won the shootout, there was one guy in the crowd happier than all of them.
Winger Pep Biel, who had to watch in plain clothes with his parents and a buddy in a luxury suite, gets a chance at redemption because his club forced a Game 3 in Orlando. Biel’s red card in the final minutes of Game 1 for “violent conduct” cost him the chance to play in Game 2.
“I was very happy for the win,” said Biel, who was asked in English and answered with broadcaster Eric Krakauer translating his Spanish. “But I’m equally happy to be able to play and play a part in trying to beat Orlando and get through to the next round.”
Biel was booked for “kicking up” at Orlando defender Robin Jansson after the two got tangled during a tackle. Charlotte FC appealed the red card but was denied by a three-person independent panel. The play happened away from the ball, a minute into stoppage time of a 2-0 loss.
“It was a silly thing to do,” Biel said. “But I also thought the red card was excessive.”
Biel, who was acquired with hours remaining in the summer transfer window, is on loan with Charlotte through Dec. 31. When asked previously if he worried that he might have just played his last game with Charlotte FC, he said yes. But he also said he never thought the red card would be used as the deciding factor for whether he is re-signed for next season.
Biel was a key factor in Charlotte’s offensive resurgence, with two goals and three assists during a five-game unbeaten streak that secured the team’s No. 5 seeding in the playoffs.
“My feeling is, every day I understand more each [player],” Biel said in English, about his improving chemistry with teammates on the field. “But when I arrived, I felt that the team, every player, had a good connection, good atmosphere. It's easy to come to a team like this.”
As for his future with the club, Biel said his mentality is to approach this “trial period” like business as usual.
“It’s the same situation as any other situation,” Biel said, with Krakauer translating. “You know that you’re always being watched, that you’re always being evaluated. I’m completely tranquil with the situation, and I’m happy to be here.”
Quotable
When Charlotte forced a Game 3 by winning a shootout against Orlando Friday, purists pointed out that Charlotte FC did not technically have its first playoff win in franchise history. Pundits like Apple TV analyst Taylor Twellman pointed out that it was a draw and Charlotte advanced on penalties. To his credit, though, Twellman after taking some good-hearted shots from Charlotte FC’s content team on social media, responded with a meme of late comedian Chris Farley saying “I suck!’
Leave it to Smith to have the last word on that subject, though, and here it is:
Well for me, we have beat [Orlando.] I know people will say it's a draw, but then Argentina wouldn’t have been lifting the World Cup last year. I think that was a draw as well. It felt very special. It felt like a win to me.
Up Next: No. 5 Charlotte FC vs No. 4 Orlando City
When/Where: 6 p.m. Saturday, Inter&Co Stadium, Orlando, Fla.
How to watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. Find information about how to subscribe for the season here.
How to listen: WFNZ 92.7 in English, WOLS 106.1 in Spanish.
Notable:
Charlotte returns to Orlando for the decisive third game of the best-of-three Round One series. Orlando won Game 1 2-0 in Orlando. Charlotte advanced on penalties after a 0-0 draw in Game 2.
Pep Biel, who was suspended in Game 2 because of a red card in the 90th minute of Game 1, returns in Game 3.
Orlando City did not get off a shot, on target or otherwise, in the first half of Game 2 on Friday night. Charlotte FC kept winger Facundo Torres scoreless for the first time in four matchups against Orlando this season.
Charlotte has yet to score a goal in open play during the first two games of the series.
U.S. Men’s National Team coach Mauricio Pochettino will be attending Saturday night’s game in Orlando, according to Apple TV analyst Taylor Twellman.
Carroll Walton is a longtime baseball writer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution now in her third season covering Charlotte FC. She would love to hear from you. E-mail her with questions, suggestions, story ideas and comments!
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