(Charlotte, NC) - The Charlotte Eagles hosted the Western Mass Pioneers tonight at Waddell Stadium.  Charlotte had another strong performance as Dan Benton earned the shutout.  Jacob Coggins and Ben Johnson scored the two goals in the Eagles 2-0 victory.

 

Jacob Coggins got the first goal of the game and his third in just two games this season.   The goal came after a long throw-in by Eagles defender Ben Johnson in the 8th minute.  Steve Shak got to the ball at the far post and volleyed a pass to the top of the six yard box for Coggins.   Coggins finished it with a nicely placed shot into the upper left corner.

 

The Charlotte Eagles controlled the tempo of the game in the first half, out-shooting the Pioneers 10-2.   Western Mass pressured offensively, mainly on the counter attack, but the Charlotte defense was solid.  Jacob Coggins had three of the 10 shots for Charlotte in the half.  Swinehart, Herrera and Schroeder each had two shots on goal.

 

Veteran defender Ben Johnson got the scoring going for Charlotte in the second half.   Greg Schroeder served the ball into the box from the left side.  Pioneers goalkeeper Kevin Trapp got a fist on the serve by Schroeder, but the ball popped out to Ben Johnson on the right side.   Johnson drilled a low shot to the far post to beat Trapp for the 2-0 lead.  Johnson was named player of the match, helping to set up the first goal with a long throw-in and scoring the second himself.  

"Ben's got great speed and anticipation to get into the attacking third.  He's a defender but is not afraid to leave his main to join the attack.  Ben gets better every year he plays" commented Eagles' coach Mark Steffens

Five minutes later, Coggins thought he had his second goal of the match, heading it past Trapp, but the goal was waived off for a dangerous play.

Charlotte held their composure throughout the second half and defended well as a team to preserve the shutout and 2-0 victory.  The win brings Charlotte's record to 2-0 on the season.

The Eagles played a tough match tonight against a very physical Western Mass team.   Charlotte out-shot Western Mass 15-7 in the match. Coach Steffens was pleased with the performance of his team.

"I'm proud of the guys for keeping their composure because there was a lot of hard hitting out there.   It was a hard fought battle.  We did some very nice things on attack and defended as a unit. They (Pioneers) had a hard time penetrating" said Steffens.