The Charlotte 49ers men’s soccer team claimed the title of the Nike Invitational Sunday evening at Transamerica Field with a 4-2 win over Winthrop.
In the first game of the invitational, Charlotte competed against California State Bakersville this Friday, head coach Jeremy Gunn’s alma mater.
The Niners completed a shut out as well and Charlotte goalkeeper, David Martin remained humble.
“It’s about time we got a shut out. I was getting a few too many goals scored on me. I didn’t have much to do tonight,” Martin said.
Martin also commented on how without the defense, his shut out would not have been possible.
But without their offensive attacks, neither would their win.
Offensively, sophomore Evan James sped through the left side of the field to the center, which turns in to a corner kick for the Niners. Although it turns in to a missed shot, James’ speed continues to contribute to the Niners attack.
Headers in Charlotte’s defensive half by sophomore Charles Rodriquez kept the Niners offense attacking.
A quick cut by senior midfielder Adam Gross caused a defender to fall, giving a quick pass off to sophomore Isaac Caughran, who made a shot in the lower right corner at the thirty-five minute mark.
Another perfect chance to score comes two minutes later when sophomore Justin Tucker’s agility fended off defenders and he makes a pass to Gross, who has a clear shot to goal. The CSBU goalkeeper dove on the ground to make an explosive save.
Corner kicks are the only leeway Charlotte handed off in their defensive half. They reciprocate this attack by trying to connect crosses, that Bakersville tries to attack with when they fall unconnected.
James’ hard work finally paid off for at the seventeen minute mark, when he rockets a ball from thirty yards out.
Not too long in to the second half, the Niners squeezed in yet another goal, making the score 3-0. Senior Luke Exley set up sophomore Jason Hawes for the breakaway as he drilled the ball into the center of the net.
Bakersville began to challenge Charlotte more, and a ping-pong rally between the Charlotte goalkeeper and Bakersville forwards sends Martin diving.
Charlotte increased their lead with only fourteen minutes left on the clock as, a corner kick from Hawes, sent senior Josh Norwood in the air to score a header making the score, 4-0.
Dribble attempts and shots on goal are made by sophomores Julian Brown-Latham and Zander Deitz, as the Niners finish the last minutes of the game strong and on top.
In the title game, the Niners were able to take a 3-0 lead before giving up two goals to the Eagles. Freshman Jennings Rex was able to seal the victory with a late-game goal, putting Charlotte up, 4-2.
In the 76th minute, Winthrop’s Matthew Skonicki cut Charlotte’s lead to two, but Rex’s answered for the Niners, securing the title for the second straight year.
“It was good to get my first career goal, but to get the second one which put Winthrop away was great,” said Rex.
Sophomore Evan James was able to get the scoring started for the Niners early in the game, followed by Rex’s first career goal. In the second half, sophomore Isaac Cowles scored his first career goal, giving Charlotte a 3-0 lead.
“We played scintillating soccer in the beginning and really took it to Winthrop by scoring three goals to put us up. However Winthrop has a ton of attacking weapons, which doesn’t allow you to switch off and assume the game is won,” said coach Gunn.
James was named the Tournament MVP with sophomores Charles Rodriguez, and Jason Hawes, along with Rex picking up tournament honors.
Charlotte will travel to Greensboro to take on the Spartans of UNC Greensboro in a Saturday evening match. The Niners will be back in action at Transamerica Field in their first conference match-up against George Washington, Oct. 9.
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