Source: Icon Sportswire / Getty
For a second straight season, Charlotte FC is heading the MLS Cup Playoff following Wednesday night victory over the Chicago Fire in Bank of America Stadium.
The Crown started out fast, striking three times in the first half to race out to a 3-1 lead at the break. Karol Swiderski found the back of the net twice in that first half, giving him six career goals against the Fire, which is easily the most a Charlotte FC player has tallied against a single opponent in their three year existence.
Liel Abada would extend the Charlotte lead to 4-1 in the 58th minute, but two questionable goals by Chicago in the 67th and 93rd minutes of the match made this a much closer game in the end than it actually was.
The win was still enough to lock the squad into the playoffs for a second straight season, making them the first professional sports team in the area since 2014-15 to make the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.
Thursday was a big day of interviews following the victory, headlined by captain Ashley Westwood who joined the Mac & Bone Show and spoke about why the offense has started to produce again down the stretch of the season. “It’s come with knowing peoples movements. It’s not easy to come straight into a team and people expect things to click straight away, but everyone has different movements. Finally, it looks like it’s clicking at the right time.”
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Charlotte FC analyst Jessica Charman also dropped by with Mac and Bone this morning and discussed why it is important for this team to find balance if they want to go deep in the playoffs. “Defensively, is where we have a few question marks right now. If you want to say the thing that is a little bit concerning, with great offensive efforts, Charlotte FC’s been a little bit vulnerable. We haven’t been able to nail both in a game at the moment so that’s where you may have a couple of question marks.”
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Will Palaszczuk, the play-by-play voice of Charlotte FC, dropped by with the Wes & Walker Show and said that this playoff means this season is already a success. “I think it’s definitely a validation. You think about the fact that you lost one DP (designated player) going into the season in Kamil Jozwiak, you had Swiderski go out on loan, you had Enzo Copetti leave at the beginning of the season and the were questions about if they would be able to improve enough of this team in order to make things work. They made the moves, they’ve made the adjustments in terms of gelling with the new players they brought in and Dean Smith has made all of the right tactical moves. Almost every button that he has pushed has been the right one. He should be a candidate for MLS Coach of the Year. Many of the pundits had Charlotte at the bottom of the table coming into the year except for Brian Dunseth who had them eighth. If they overshoot all of the projections and finish above eighth and get themselves in a first round playoff series, then Dean Smith should be the coach of the year in my opinion.”
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Keep it tuned to WFNZ for all of the latest with Charlotte FC and each match live throughout the rest of the regular season and into the playoffs.
The post Charlotte FC Clinches Playoff Berth for Second Straight Year appeared first on WFNZ Radio.