In front of 500 energetic fans near the shores of the Atlantic, the Myrtle Beach Mutiny took a stranglehold of the top of the South Atlantic Division with a 1–0 win over the Charlotte Eagles with a 31st minute blast from budding star Toby Uzo.

Earlier this week, the Mutiny account brazenly predicted a Uzo goal. That prediction appeared less and less bold as the first half ticked on.

The Eagles registered few first-half opportunities, but they did force an early save from Mutiny goalkeeper David Garcia. Charlotte’s Kelvin Omondi found space down the left flank and was in on goal, but Garcia came out and snuffed out the chance.

For the most part, though, Myrtle Beach controlled play in the first half. They earned two corners within the first two minutes of the game and continued to press for the remainder of the game.

The goal was a pretty one and, according to Mutiny officials, a rare one scored with Uzo’s feet. It was set up, though, by a brilliant move down the right side of the box by Coastal Carolina’s Ridge Robinson, who juked a Charlotte defender out of his shoes before laying it off to Uzo. The job was simple for Uzo at that point, who calmly slid the ball low to the far post for the game’s only goal.

The match finished with the intensity of a championship final, and for all intents and purposes it was. Both teams have nearly equal schedules and entered the game with equal records. The winner, with a game in hand on 2nd-place Nashville, would control their playoff destiny. The loser would too, but without these points would have a lot of work to do in the competitive two-playoff-spot division.

That intensity nearly boiled over in the 87th minute, as Charlotte’s Foster Appiah came in hard on Robinson. It was a predictable course of events — the referee had failed to call several late challenges leading up to that — but one that nearly led to blows. Thankfully, two yellow cards and several shouting matches later, the game continued.

It was only beyond the 80th minute that Charlotte really controlled play. Several corner kicks required Garcia’s attention and, in the 82nd, Joao Costa’s knuckler forced a diving save from Garcia. Charlotte’s final chance came at the death, a free kick from nearly 30 yards out that was crossed in. Garcia made a mess of it but his defender cleaned up, booting the ball down the field and sparking the referee’s final whistle.

“Those are the games the boys came here for,” Mutiny coach Kyle Russell said after the game. “A first place battle against a fantastic, well-coached team like Charlotte and obviously our boys were up for it. It was our first shutout and the first time we’d been held under two goals since the first game of the season so we had to grind it out.”

Myrtle Beach next heads up the beach to take on the Wilmington Hammerheads on July 1st while the Eagles head to Durham to battle Tobacco Road FC.

In the meantime, check back later this week for more on Soccer ‘n’ Sweet Tea’s first trip to Myrtle Beach, and of course more as we follow 13 teams across North and South Carolina.