Charlotte 49ers September Recap

Photo Courtesy of Charlotte Athletics

Charlotte 49ers athletics gave Niner Nation plenty to celebrate and remember in the month of September without the aid of any music from Earth, Wind & Fire!

We saw historical runs and standout performances from new Niners as fall sports have officially gotten underway here in the Queen City.

Football

Charlotte football found their first win of the season during September behind the best performance of quarterback Conner Harrell’s career when the Niners defeated Monmouth 42-35. 

Sadly for the Niner faithful, the Monmouth result was the outlier of the month, as the team went 1-2, losing to North Carolina 20-3 early in the month and then opening American Conference play with a 28-17 loss.

The theme of the month for football was injuries, as the injury report seemed to stack up throughout the year, with the most devastating being Harrell's season-ending injury right after he got into his rhythm. 

Men’s Soccer

Much like in August, Charlotte men’s soccer had mixed results in September, taking care of business in their American Conference games with a 2-1 win over Tulsa and a scoreless draw with the University of South Florida. But they went 1-2 in their non-conference games during that time.

Leonard Stritter really stood out for the team during that time, recording 15 saves in the team’s five games, including one clean sheet, and helping to be an anchor on the defensive side of things.

Women’s Soccer

September gave the 49ers their biggest challenges for women’s soccer, with the team opening the month with a trip to Clemson University, where they fell 2-0, but the team rallied back at home to end non-conference play with a 3-2 win over the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Charlotte then began American Conference play, hosting #10-ranked Memphis, where they held each other scoreless for 84 minutes. However, the Tigers found a goal in the 85th minute to secure a 1-0 win.

The 49ers responded with a 3-2 win over the University of North Texas and a 1-1 draw with the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), having a successful road trip in Texas. UTSA scored the game-tying goal in the 90th minute on a penalty kick, meaning the 49ers were six total minutes away from being 2-0-1 in the American in September. 

Naroa Domenech led the way with two goals over that time, helping finish good scoring chances for Charlotte. Amelia Brown, one of the team’s captains, was also instrumental in the team’s success on the month, scoring on two penalty kicks and also adding an assist to the stat sheet.

Volleyball

Charlotte volleyball, after starting the year 0-3 in August, caught fire in September, opening up the month with a 10-game win streak and improving to 10-4 on the season.

The winning ways all got started at the Blue Ridge Volleyball Classic, where the 49ers swept the weekend, winning all three matches and dropping only two sets along the way.

American Conference play began at the end of the month, and Charlotte opened with a 3-0 sweep at North Texas, followed by a loss to UTSA, which ended their winning streak.

Head Coach Benavia Jenkins wanted the team to be competitive this season and show growth, and they have far exceeded those goals, as they are not only competing but also winning in strong fashion.

Overall, the team played well together, but Kristen Birmingham and Annika Thompson seemed to shine the most, with Birmingham consistently being first or second on the team in kills each match. Thompson has adjusted to the change to libero with few issues, as she led the American Conference in digs and has been among the nation’s leaders in digs.

Men’s Golf

Charlotte men’s golf got their season started in September, playing in the Visit Knoxville Collegiate at Tennessee, where Chase Cline was a co-champion for the Niners.

Cline, the sophomore transfer from Western Carolina, made an immediate impact in his first outing as a 49er, tying the program record for lowest score in a round after shooting 64 (-6) in the opening round of play. Overall, the team finished tied for fourth place with Georgia Tech, just two strokes out of third place. 

“Certainly, happy for Chase to pick up his first win in his first event at Charlotte," said Head Coach Ryan Cabbage. "He was solid all three rounds, and this is a good win against a tremendous field. Overall, this was a pretty solid week as a team.”

Charlotte ended the month taking part in the Bryson Bros Collegiate, which saw the 49ers and Louisiana State University (LSU) battling it out for first place all week. Ultimately, the Tigers held on to a three-stroke lead at the end, with Charlotte settling for second place after an impressive showing. 

Frazer Jones was impressive in the event, tying for second place after shooting 202 (-11), being a critical piece of the team’s top finish in the event. 

Women’s Golf

Charlotte women’s golf opened up September with a dominant team performance as they cruised to an 11-stroke victory at the Golfweek Fall Challenge, marking the program’s fourth-ever team title win as they finished with a score of 845 (-7). 

"A lot of hard work and patience went into the win this week," said Head Coach CC McMahan. "Our team has been pushed these first few weeks of the season from balancing classes, to a new team dynamic, and a new coaching style. We have asked a lot of them, and it's been encouraging to see that pay off. Round one was special, and I think everyone now believes we can be the team that has low rounds. And I am confident we will build on that for the season ahead. Congrats to Ting for her first collegiate top five and Caroline as well for her personal best tournament round."

After opening the month with an impressive win, the team faced its first roadblock of the season in the Red Sky Classic, held in scenic Vail, Colo., which posed unique conditions that may have contributed to the team’s 13th-place finish among 20 competing teams.

As usual, Pinky Chaisilprungruang had an outstanding month for the 49ers, which earned her American Conference Golfer of the Month. 

But a couple of other golfers really shined for the 49ers with Ting Uang tying Pinky’s single round record of 66 in the Golfweek Fall Challenge, which also saw Caroline Johnson step up and shoot a career-low 67, which contributed to the team setting the program record round score of 273.

Cross Country

Charlotte cross country had another standout showing this time in the Queen City Invite, which saw the men’s team take first place out of 21 teams while the women’s team finished in second place out of 20 teams.

The 49ers men’s team took a big 28-point win, with Maddon Muhammed taking the individual victory after running a 24:21.81, followed closely behind by teammate Stephen Fernetti, who ran a 24:22.54 to give Charlotte the top two spots. The team ultimately had 11 of the top 20 finishes, helping secure the victory.

"We had some guys really step up big today, and a couple of guys who ran their first 8K and got some great experience on a really fast course here at home, and hopefully now we can carry over those experiences, both good and things that didn't go quite our way," said Head Coach Joe Lynn. "We'll learn from them and just continue to get better as we move forward into the season."

Charlotte’s women’s team took second place just behind Wake Forest, as the 49ers had two top-five finishes, with Ella White coming in third, running a 16:54.28, and Cali Coffin taking fourth with a time of 16:58.44, both of which were personal best times.

"Really happy with how the women competed, we knew it would be a solid competition across the board with it being a fast course,” said Lynn. “A couple of girls got out really quick and ran really fast; a couple of girls were buried and moved up really well. Having a meet like today, to have an opportunity to work on those things and be able to manage them, was really important."

After strong showings to start the season, the cross country team hopes to keep the good times rolling into October. 

Club Hockey

The Charlotte Club Hockey team opened its season in September, going 2-1, ending the month with back-to-back victories over High Point University.

After the first three games of the season were cancelled, opening day was rescheduled for Sept. 20, with the team opening the season against App State, which resulted in a 5-3 win for the Mountaineers. 

On Sept. 26, Charlotte took on High Point, with the game going to overtime and not finishing until the 27th, when Garrett Kucera hit the game-winner to secure a 4-3 overtime victory. On Sept. 27, the Niners took on High Point again, riding the momentum of the overtime win, which led to another 4-3 win this time in regulation after taking a 3-0 lead in the first period. 

Niner of the Month

Charlotte played the entire month of September, leading to four different Niners of the Week, with volleyball’s Lauren Nixon getting the first one of the month after being a critical piece of the team’s sweep of the Blue Ridge Volleyball Classic from 9/3-9/9, when she averaged 10.91 assists and 2.64 digs per set.

Next for the week of 9/10-9/16 was football’s Harrell after his standout performance against Monmouth, where he threw 26-30 with 382 passing yards and three passing touchdowns while also carrying the ball 13 times for 47 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. 

During volleyball’s impressive winning streak, Thompson won Niner of the Week for 9/17-9/23 after having a total of 48 digs and seven assists in one week, helping keep the good times rolling on the court. 

Brown won Niner of the Week for 9/24-9/30 after helping women’s soccer get their second-ever win at North Texas, contributing a goal and an assist in the victory. 

The Niner of the Month is Annika Thompson from Charlotte volleyball, who has consistently served as a defensive anchor for the team and helped them win 10 straight games during the month.