The Charlotte Independence came into Saturday’s game needing to put together a much better performance following a rough loss in Charleston on Wednesday. Unfortunately, they were still forced to do so without the services of Jun Marques Davidson, Alex Martinez and Caleb Calvert, and they lost to Tampa Bay, 1–0.

The Rowdies hadn’t played since September 6th due to Hurricane Irma and a scheduled week off, so there was a chance they’d be rusty. I was really looking forward to this game because these teams played to a fantastic 2–2 draw back in early June and they matchup well on paper when you think about the style of play each employ.

The game itself lived up to my excitement, but the result unfortunately didn’t match the quality of the Jacks’ play.

The Independence got off to a better start than they did on Wednesday night, controlling and passing the ball much better. Unlike the game against Charleston, they had their first shot on target in the 11th minute via a header from Jaime Siaj that was saved. Unfortunately, the Independence didn’t test the Rowdies defense for the remainder of the half.

Following a very bizarre moment that ended in an indirect free kick in the box for Tampa Bay, the Rowdies had their first opportunity to score get cleared out by the Jacks defense. The Rowdies didn’t let up though and they took the lead by scoring on a corner kick in the 33rd minute from a Hunter Gorskie effort to poke the ball just over the line around a defending Donnie Smith.

Nice effort from Gorskie.

You could say that this goal came against the run of play because Charlotte was controlling things pretty well to that point, but this took whatever momentum the Jacks had and gave it to the Rowdies for the remainder of the half.

The second half saw Charlotte nearly equalize off the opening kickoff as Joel Johnson put a wonderful ball on the ground to the back post but a sliding Jorge Herrera just missed putting it in the net… foreshadowing the slew of chances the Jacks would have later.

Cody Mizell made an incredible save in the 57th minute to keep Charlotte in the game. The Jacks made a double substitution at the hour mark bringing on Yann Ekra and David Spies to replace Callum Ross and David Estrada. A move that sparked the team to push for an equalizer for the last half hour.

Joel Johnson then had a goal disallowed for offside. (Coach Jefferies said post-game that he thought that it “definitely wasn’t” offside but it looked like the linesman got it right to me.) Moments later Enzo Martinez had a goal disallowed for offside after he put in the rebound from Ekra’s beautiful curling shot that was only kept out by the goalpost.

The play that saved the game for the Rowdies was Matt Pickens’ unreal save on an Enzo Martinez curling left footed shot that looked destined for the top left corner. I thought Enzo had just taken the lead for the Golden Boot in the most dramatic fashion, but it wasn’t meant to be. Nothing you can do but tip your hat on that one.

That was the last real threat the Jacks had as Siaj got free for a header on a corner kick but put it just over the crossbar in added time. It wasn’t the result that Charlotte wanted or needed, but I thought their performance deserved a point. The last half hour was ALL Independence and saw them put together some really clever attacks, but it just wasn’t our night.

Man of the Match

Enzo Martinez and Lewis Hilton

I couldn’t choose either one over the other because I thought both were brilliant at times on the night and were part of why I though Charlotte’s performance deserved a point. Hilton completed 94% of his 62 passes and created three chances. Enzo Martinez won seven fouls and had three shots on target including that brilliant effort with his weaker left foot that took Pickens’ best effort to keep out.

Wasn’t the best result but have a sweet tea on me boys!

Takeaways

Performance Without Result

I said after the game that I thought the last half hour was the best soccer the Independence has played since #beatless. I stand by that, considering the quality of the opponent and how well they typically play at home. There’s at least a moral victory (too bad those don’t count) that the Jacks controlled play for at least half of the game and completely dominated at the end. Tough luck to not get a draw.

Tough Spot

All that said, this result puts the Independence in a tough spot. With three games to play they still haven’t technically clinched a playoff berth (but it’s awfully close) and a top four finish that looked like a guarantee about a month ago is now in question. Luckily, others around them stumbled: Charleston and Rochester both lost as well on Saturday. The Jacks have to earn their home playoff game with three good results in their last three (difficult) games.

NEED To Get Back To Full Strength

We saw a good glimpse at the 75% strength Independence against the Rowdies, but the Jacks were still missing Jun Marques Davidson, Alex Martinez and Caleb Calvert. The last few games have made it painfully obvious that the Independence were missing their contributions, mainly Jun and Alex as Calvert has yet to make a true appearance for Charlotte this season. If the Independence have any hope to finish well and make a playoff run, they’ll need all three of these guys to get fit and find the team chemistry on the field.

What’s next?

The Independence have a big matchup with 6th place FC Cincinnati at home on Friday, September 29th.

Yes it’s on FRIDAY, don’t forget! This is the penultimate regular season home game, and I hope to see everyone out there for some Friday night lights! The Jacks need your support in these last few games so be there and be loud! Come on you Jacks!