After a stagnant first half, Charlotte 49ers men’s soccer exploded for three goals to defeat Davidson 3-0 at home in the season opener on Friday, August 23.
“It feels good. At halftime? Not so good,” said Head Coach Kevin Langan. “First half, we kinda got stuck. We couldn't figure out a way to break Davidson down. They were very organized. Feel much better now after our second-half performance. The guys stepped up and got rid of the preseason nerves and showed what we can do.”
First half
Neither the Niners nor the Wildcats could find a way to crack a goal on the scoreboard in the first half, with Charlotte leading in possession in the first half but being outshot 3-2 in the opening half by Davidson.
Captain comes through
The first goal of the match came from a corner kick where Grant Stewart found defender Ian Pilcher, who sent the ball into the net with a header, leaping above and in front of the Wildcat defenders to knock the ball in to take a 1-0 lead in the 52nd minute.
Precision and teamwork grows lead
Incredible passing, timing and teamwork led to the 49ers' second goal as Filip Jauk scored coming from a backheel pass from Ben Fisher to Brigham Larsen, who then quickly passed it over to Jauk for the wide-open goal, showing all the preseason work together coming through in the home opener.
The precise passing leading to the goal grew Charlotte’s lead to 2-0 in the 67th minute.
Larsen seals it
The match's final goal came in the 81st minute. Defender Daniel Moore sent a cross near the goal, and Larsen got a foot on it to send it into the net, giving the hosts a 3-0 lead late on.
That lead would hold up for the final nine minutes as the 49ers started the season 1-0.
Takeaways
Charlotte changed their mindset and focus at the break, realizing they needed to push the pace further. That ultimately led to an outpouring of shots in the second half, as they scored three goals on 10 shots in the back half of the match.
“We were talking about tactics as a staff because they had so many players behind the ball that we needed to throw more men forward,” said Langan. “We decided it was more of a mindset for us just because we looked up and saw a black jersey didn’t mean we had to turn back and go backward again. Can we take the game to them? Can we get numbers around the ball? Can we play forward? Can we take risks?… Can we just speed it up? Then from there, we get more territory and pick up more loose balls and hopefully get some great goals.”
Goalkeeper Leonard Stritter will have to wait another week before getting challenged in a competitive game. The Wildcats had four shots on the evening, none of which were on goal, leaving Stritter with a zero-save clean sheet.
Stars of the game
Pilcher started the scoring, knocking in a goal with a header off a corner kick, opening things up for the team and standing out in the green and white while also holding down a solid defensive team performance as they held Davidson to four shots.
“Captain’s performance from Ian [Pilcher], he gets the clean sheet but also got the goal that really blew the game open,” said Langan.
Larsen stood out on the offensive side, participating in the passing clinic that led to the second goal and putting an exclamation point on the contest when he scored the team’s third goal.
What’s next
Charlotte’s next match is on Thursday, August 29, at 7 p.m., when they travel north to Syracuse to take on the No. 25-ranked Orange.
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