Charlotte FC’s playoff hopes may hinge on once again knocking off MLS power NYCFC
When Brandt Bronico did his best Superman impression — celebrating a late, match-clinching goal in front of a stunned New York City FC crowd and celebrating like Carolina Panthers legend Cam Newton used to — it looked as if Charlotte FC had turned a corner.
As if the team’s playoff dreams had been resurrected.
That will need to happen again Saturday.
CLTFC (10-17-2) will welcome NYCFC (13-10-6) to Bank of America Stadium at 1 p.m. Saturday for a rematch of the club’s biggest win to date — when it defeated the reigning MLS champions 3-1 on the road last month and got temporarily thrust into the playoff picture because of it. The win spawned hope. It created “a belief,” head coach Christian Lattanzio said, that the team could compete with “some of the biggest teams, play with courage and get the result.”
A lot has happened since then.
After that Aug. 17 match, CLTFC has played three matches and lost all three: One was to Orlando, which saw a pair of defensive breakdowns turn lethal, and the other two were 2-0 defeats to Toronto and Cincinnati.
Jaylin Lindsey, a Charlotte native and CLTFC defender, told reporters Wednesday that the recent results are especially “frustrating” because the team is largely playing well. Without a mental lapse here, a stroke of bad luck there, CLTFC’s season would look much different right now, he said. (Charlotte FC has been trying to become the sixth expansion team in MLS history to make the playoffs in its inaugural season.)
“At the end of the day, you don’t want to come back from games with regrets, at all,” Lindsey said. He also said that “little mistakes” that change games haven’t just come “these past couple games but over the course of the season,” adding, “This season has just been a learning season for all of us. And I think that if we fix these (mistakes), I think we’d just come away with so many points.
“So like I said, it’s frustrating, but you live and you learn, right? It’s all about moving forward, fixing those mistakes and getting better.”
The Charlotte side has five matches remaining in its inaugural regular season and dwells 12th out of 14th in the Eastern Conference table as of Friday afternoon. That means a playoff run will require a lot of wins — the team has 32 points, seven behind seventh-seeded Cincinnati. (A win earns a team three points; a draw earns one point; a loss results in no points. The top-seven teams in the Eastern Conference make the MLS playoffs.)
But a belief remains nonetheless, Lindsey said.
“We have the belief as a team, and with the coaching staff, that we have that chance to make playoffs,” Lindsey said. “So that’s our only main goal right now.”
NYCFC lost five of its six games in August and has notched a loss and a draw in its two matches thus far in September.
How to get tickets to Bank of America Stadium Saturday
When: 1 p.m.
Where: Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, N.C.)
Special night: Saturday will be the club’s Hispanic Heritage Night. The first 7,500 fans in attendance will receive a limited addition “Sugar Skull Bobblehead,” per the team’s website.
Tickets: Purchase single-game tickets on ticketmaster.com. As of this article’s online publication, tickets were as cheap as $25 before fees.
How to watch Charlotte FC vs. NYCFC
Stream: MLS LIVE on ESPN+ (valid with a subscription); CLTFC Live
Cable: Telemundo, WAXN-TV (Channel 64)
Radio: WFNZ 610AM/92.7FM
