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(Wilimington, NC) -
The Charlotte Eagles USL-2 professional soccer team
began their fight in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup
Tournament tonight facing USL-2
rival Wilmington Hammerheads. The Hammerheads
scored two late second half goals to break the 1-1
tie and claim their place in the US Open Cup third
round. The US Open Cup, which
is recognized as US Soccer’s National Championship,
is an annual competition open to all amateur and
professional soccer teams affiliated with US Soccer. |
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Charlotte and Wilmington have tied twice in regular season
play thus far, but the stakes were higher tonight in the US
Open Cup second round match.
The Wilmington Hammerheads took the lead in the 27th minute.
Wilmington's goal came off a two man corner kick play.
Veteran midfielder Derek Popovich took the shot on goal that
deflected three times before trickling into corner of the
goal.
Charlotte answered in the 60th minute with an attack down
the right hand side. Ben Johnson made a overlapping
run around Dustin Swinehart with the ball. Swinehart
played Johnson who dashed to the endline and laid a diagonal
ball back across the middle for Taurai Daka. Daka
scored with a nicely placed shot from eight yards out to
even the score at ones.
Wilmington took back the lead in the 82nd minute. The
Hammerheads recovered the ball from the Charlotte defense
and Junior Zarate took a tough angle shot from the side that
slid inside the post. Just two minutes later Anthony
Maher scored the final goal of the match extending the
Wilmington lead to two. Thabiso Khumalo pushed the
ball down the flank and turned the corner. Khumalo
served the ball into the middle, finding Anthony Maher who
finished for the goal.
With the 3-1 Wilmington victory, the Hammerheads move onto
the third round of the US Open Cup in which they will face
the Atlanta Silverbacks. The Charlotte Eagles are out
of the US Open Cup tournament, and will now hope to focus on
defending their USL-2 National Championship Title.
The Charlotte Eagles are on the road for regular season play
this Saturday, facing the Long Island Rough Riders at 7:30
pm. Charlotte's next home game is July 15th, hosting
the Richmond Kickers at Waddell Stadium, 8:00 pm. The
Charlotte Lady Eagles are at home this Friday night hosting
the Cocoa Beach Expos at 7:30 pm at Waddell Stadium.
Fans can save $2.00 per ticket by purchasing them at
www.CharlotteEagles.com in advance by midnight Thursday.
