(Charlotte, NC) - The Charlotte Eagles hosted the Harrisburg City Islanders tonight at Waddell Stadium. Despite Charlotte's dominance on the field it was Harrisburg that scored the lone goal of the match in Harrisburg's 1-0 victory over the Eagles. Harrisburg's Mo Odour scored to put Harrisburg on top.
Harrisburg scored in the 42nd minute of play to take their 1-0 lead into halftime. Mo Oduor scored the goal for Harrisburg receiving a long ball from midfield. Odour controlled it well with his first touch, pushing it ahead and into the top right side of the Charlotte 18 yard box. Odour beat the Charlotte defense on the sprint and beat Eagles' goalkeeper Dan Benton with a hard, placed shot inside the left post.
The Charlotte Eagles put the pressure on in the second half looking for the equalizer, but Charlotte just couldn't pull things together in the final third of the field to get that elusive goal.
Charlotte had two key chances that could have made the difference tonight if finished. In the 57th minute, Joseph Kabwe weaved his way through Harrisburg defenders to break free at the top of the 18 yard box. He fired a shot off, but sent it soaring over the crossbar. In the final minute of play midfielder Adam Ruud ran onto a volley at the top of the Harrisburg 18 yard box and blasted a low shot which pinged off the left post.
The match ended with a win for Harrisburg, 1-0 over Charlotte. Despite what the scoreboard read, Charlotte out-shot Harrisburg 11-3 in the match.
"Lots of chances, but the last couple of games we haven't been putting enough shots on frame. It's something that has to change pretty quickly for us to be successful," commented Eagles head coach Mark Steffens on the Eagles finishing struggles tonight.
The Charlotte Eagles have back to back games against Richmond next weekend. The Eagles take on the Kickers in Richmond on Friday night, Jul 13th and then return to Charlotte to host Richmond on Saturday, July 14th. The Saturday night match in Charlotte will kick off at 7:00pm at Waddell Stadium. Tickets can be purchased online at at $2.00 discount when purchased prior to gameday. Just visit www.CharlotteEagles.com.
