May 18, 2022 – United Soccer League One (USL1) – Charlotte Independence News Release
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Charlotte Independence fell 2-1 to Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC in a competitive match played Wednesday night at American Legion Memorial Stadium. The Independence next face Forward Madison FC on the road on Saturday, May 21 at 8 PM. Fans can live stream the match for free at bahakelsports.com or watch over-the-air on antenna TV’s WCCB Channel 18.5.
“It’s always hard when you lose the last one and that’s the taste you walk away with,” stated Charlotte Independence Head Coach, Mike Jeffries. “I think tonight was really frustrating on our end to give away the set piece goal really before the game even had rhythm. I thought we, again, put ourselves in a hole and battled back. I feel like the team has great character and so forth to be able to do that and just a soft second goal off a counterattack. Again, I thought we fought to try to get it. I thought we had good chances, obviously we didn’t get any breaks, but it was a good battle.”
Only a minute after kickoff, Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC opened the scoring through a goal by #10 Irvin Parra. The Independence quickly shifted to the attack with multiple solid chances in the first ten minutes. #5 Shalom Dutey released a powerful header off a corner, forcing the Hailstorm keeper to make a save.
It was only a matter of time before USL League One leading scorer #11 Tresor Mbuyu leveled the score in the 19th minute with his fifth goal of the season. From the left wing, #4 Diego Rocha played a through ball to #7 Miguel Ibarra at the top of the penalty area who sent it to Mbuyu streaming towards goal to slot it past the keeper and into the back of the net.
The Jacks continued to pressure the Northern Colorado defense, producing four corner kicks in the first half. It was a team effort as Mbuyu, #90 Khori Bennett and #6 Omar Ciss all recorded shots in search of a breakthrough goal.
The teams entered halftime…