Charlotte FC still dialing it in with 3-0 preseason win vs. Charleston Battery
In an unexpected sneak preview of what the coming season might bring, Charlotte FC fans, a select few of them anyway, gained entry to Bank of America Stadium on Saturday to see their team take on the Charleston Battery, a USL Championship tier side, a level just below MLS. Originally scheduled to be contested at the Battery’s home field at Patriot’s Point, the match was moved to Charlotte with warnings of more severe weather on the day along the South Carolina coast.
After a scoreless first half, Enzo Copetti, Ben Bender and Nuno Santos found the net to secure a 3-0 win for the Crown. “Still a work in progress,” said coach Christian Lattanzio after the match. “There are certain things I like that we have done, other things that I like less.”
The game wasn’t so much a friendly as it was, in the simplest terms, an organized and officiated scrimmage. While Charlotte FC came out in its traditional blue and white Carolina Kit home uniforms, the Battery wore un-numbered gray practice shirts instead of the usual bright yellow jerseys.
The opening lineup featured Enzo Copetti and Karol Swiderski up top, with the new signing from Argentina taking the true striker slot and last season’s leading scorer playing more of a withdrawn role.
The midfield, left to right, included Kamil Jozwiak, Ashley Westwood, Chris Hegardt, and Kerwin Vargas. Harrison Afful started at the left back with Nathan Byrne on the right. Jan Sobocinski and Derrick Jones were the central defenders, with Pablo Sisniega starting in goal.
There were early flashes of Copetti’s craftsmanship when he took a hard cross and cushioned it down off his head into the path of Westwood who didn’t take it first time. After the game he admitted that would have necessitated using his left foot, something he is more reticent to do.
About 20 minutes in, Copetti got behind the Charleston line on a ball over the top and was one-on-one with the Battery goalkeeper, whom he tried to chip just as he neared the top of the penalty area. The 6-foot-4 Trey Muse stood his ground though and smartly picked it out of the air. The first half would remain scoreless.
Lattanzio kept the same eleven on the pitch to start the second half and Charlotte came out with more urgency on pressing both in the attack and after losing possession.
That paid off ten minutes in when Vargas was set free down the right side and played a sharp pass to the center of the goal mouth where Copetti ran onto it, first-timing it into the net.
All three goals came from low, sharp crosses from the right. “We’ve been working on stuff in the preseason and put a couple in the right areas today,” Westwood said. “We just need to keep working and have that willingness to get on the end of it. It’s going to be a weapon for us hopefully.”
A second half substitute was Jack Neeley who also came on as a second half substitute in Charlotte’s 1-1 draw with the Vancouver Whitecaps in the Coachella Valley Invitational. If you’re not familiar with the name, he comes Charlotte FC’s development academy, which is refining some talented athletes who might make an impact on the first team sooner than later.
“He’s a mature character,” Lattanzio said of the 17-year-old who more than held his own against the older and more experienced competition. “Football-wise, we need to be patient with him. He is here at the moment because we don’t have central defenders.”
That also necessitated using Jones, primarily a defensive midfielder, as a centerback in the match. If there’s a worry with the team at this point, it’s the lack of depth in central defense, a position that has been reduced by injury and tragedy. The greatest loss was the untimely passing of Anton Walkes last month in a watercraft accident while the team was training in Florida. Guzman Corujo, who had started every match before being injured against the Chicago Fire last August is still recuperating from ACL surgery. Adilson Malanda, who joined the team late last season from the French second division, did not dress for the Charleston match out of precaution due to an abductor according to Lattanzio.
Neeley wasn’t the only Charlotte FC academy player getting a run in on Saturday. About 1,550 miles south by southwest in Antigua, Guatemala, 16-year-old Brian Romero started on the right wing for the USA Junior Men’s National Team in the CONCACAF U17 Championship opening match against Barbados. He assisted on the American’s third goal in a 5-0 win.
Charlotte will have one more test match against USL side Birmingham Legion at Bank of America Stadium next Saturday before the season-opener at home against New England on February 25.
This story was originally published February 12, 2023 at 12:08 PM.