Charlotte, NC: The Charlotte Eagles host their first home doubleheader in 2009 at Charlotte Christian Stadium Friday night. The Charlotte Lady Eagles open their 2009 season against Hampton Roads at 5:30pm while the Charlotte Eagles host the Wilmington Hammerheads at 8pm, as the in-state rivals face off for the second time in three weeks.
With the unveiling of the new Women’s Professional Soccer league the W-League will feature many young players in 2009, but that will not mean a major drop in the quality of play. With many of the nations best collegiate players (including national team players), unavailable for professional play, the W-League will feature an exciting and high level version of women’s soccer around the nation. That will indeed be the case for the W-League Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division.
The Charlotte Lady Eagles bring possibly their youngest team ever into the Atlantic Division, but also vital leadership and talent including National Team experience. That experience includes Shelley Lyle and Lindsey Ozimek. Former standouts at Florida and UNC Charlotte respectively, Lyle and Ozimek join veterans Lulu Quigley, Christy Rife and Ashley Swinehart in vital leadership roles on and off the field.
In addition to the veterans returning to the Lady Eagles, the newcomers are no strangers to leadership and success on the field. Two of those newcomers include South Carolina, and UNC Charlotte standouts Blakely Mattern and Hailey Beam.
Blakely Mattern comes into her first season with the Lady Eagles after consecutive successful seasons at the University of South Carolina. During her career at USC, Mattern was named to the All SEC First Team as a defender in 2007 and 2008. She was named the SEC Defender of the Year in 2007, and was also a Freshmen All-American in 2006.
Hailey Beam, younger sister of Lindsey Ozimek, has continued to bring the same kind of success her older sister brought to UNC Charlotte as Beam has also left an impact while at UNCC. Hailey, a senior at UNCC, was named the A-10 Midfielder of the Year in 2008 with 17 goals and 13 assists. "Hailey is a tremendous midfielder who has multiple dimensions to her game in that she can win balls for you and she can score goals for the team as well," remarked Lady Eagles Coach Lee Horton. "She has a knack for popping up and scoring great goals in and around the penalty box, and we are very excited to have her as part of our team in 2009." A full roster of the 2009 Lady Eagles can be found on www.CharlotteEagles.com.
Entering their third game of the 2009 USL-2 season, the Charlotte Eagles men’s team kicks off Friday night at 8pm against the Wilmington Hammerheads. Although the two teams looked fairly even in their first matchup when they played to a 2-2 draw April 25th, they both had very contrasting games the following weekend against the same team.
The Eagles were frustrated and outplayed by Crystal Palace Baltimore May 1st at Winthrop University where Baltimore scored 2 late goals in the final 10 minutes to defeat Charlotte 2-0. One night later and three and a half hours east of Charlotte, Baltimore showed some tired legs as Wilmington drubbed Crystal Palace 3-0.
Those results from last weekend make Friday’s matchup between the Eagles and Hammerheads a crucial game even though it is only the third game for both clubs. A good win from Charlotte could be the spark the 2008 regular season champs need to make an early run, especially with difficult road trips coming up. A win for Wilmington gives the Hammerheads a great start to a long season and sends the Eagles back to the drawing board.
All indications from the Eagles training facility show some shakeups in the starting lineup for Friday night. That includes the first appearance of veteran defender Josh Rife at training today. The former Indiana standout is expected to be on the roster tomorrow night. After spending the offseason with the Detroit Ignition of the Major Indoor Soccer League, Rife was listed on the USL roster for the Eagles but was not expected to play for Charlotte in 2009. As many found out today those plans changed, which is good news for a defense that has struggled to make life easy on goalkeeper Kevin Trapp.
Gates open at Charlotte Christian Stadium at 5:00pm Friday night. The Lady Eagles kick off at 5:30pm followed by the Eagles match at 8:00pm. Tickets are on sale now at www.CharlotteEagles.com.
