Under partly cloudy skies with a breeze in the air on Monday night, the Wilmington Hammerheads fell 3–1 to the Myrtle Beach Mutiny. The match provided no shortage of chances at scoring and saw the South Carolina club take the first meeting between these two coastal clubs.

Like last week, Wilmington took the first goal of the match. Tanner Roberts put the hosts up a goal in the 5th minute, his fourth goal on the season, leading the club. Cameron Lindley provided the assist to the goal, another to his team leading tally.

For the first 25 minutes, Wilmington were in control, getting off two shots, five corners and a plethora of other chances at goal to open the match. David Lozano led the attack early for the Hammerheads, connecting plenty of crosses to the Wilmington players in the box.

David Lozano, #6, leads a Hammerheads attack in the second half. (Photo Credit: Ryan Allen)

By the 30th minute, the tides of this Carolina Coastal Derby had shifted, with Myrtle Beach controlling play. Tobenna Uzo leveled the match with his goal in the 32nd minute, scoring on a tap-in at goal after Wilmington’s keeper was out of position. Fellow Mutiny forward, Dejuan Jones, was credited with the assist on Uzo’s goal.

Minutes later in the 36th, DeJuan Jones found the back of the net for a score of his own off a breakaway on the counterattack. Jones and Uzo proved to be a deadly duo for the Hammerheads defense, as both players were at the forefront of every Mutiny attack.

Halftime saw each side with four shots. Wilmington’s seven corners in the first half provided a bulk of their offensive chances. Of those seven corners, five of them were taken short.

Out of the gate in the second half, the Hammerheads looked to rejuvenate their offense, taking two shots within the first five minutes. However, over the next ten minutes, Myrtle Beach halted any Wilmington attacks, adding three shots of their own inthe second half.

If anything, the second half saw much harder tackles and tougher fouls. Nicholas Marcano of Myrtle Beach was shown a yellow card for a particularly rough tackle on a Hammerheads player at midfield. Later in the 75th minute, Richard Aksel Juul was shown a caution for a tackle outside the box, which resulted in a free kick over the bar from the Hammerheads.

Juul was subsequently subbed out in the 77th minute as the Mutiny brought players off the bench. Jason Romero, who was a part of that change on 77 minutes, scored a goal in the 82nd minute to cap off an offensive showcase from the Mutiny, and a 3–1 victory for the visitors.

Takeaways from the Match

Wilmington were not without chances at goal during the match, with nine corners on the night, six of which were taken short. During the first 30 minutes of the match, the Hammerheads ran the match the way they wanted, controlling the pace. However like last week, Wilmington struggled in the second half, taking two shots before the 50th minute, then failing to record another shot for the rest of the contest. Four of the Hammerheads’ seven goals on the year have come from the first half.

Man of the Match

DeJuan Jones, Myrtle Beach Mutiny

Jones led the Mutiny offense all night, providing an assist, and later, the go-ahead goal, to take home the win and send Myrtle Beach back south, happy with the result.

The Mutiny celebrate their second goal of the match. (Photo Credit: Ryan Allen)

Upcoming Fixtures

Wilmington continues their three-match home stand with a fixture versus in-state and longtime USL rivals, the Charlotte Eagles (4–1–0) on Wednesday, June 7th. Myrtle Beach’s next match is a little over a week from now, hosting South Georgia Tormenta FC (0–2–2) on Thursday, June 15th.