CHARLOTTE, NC (March 28, 2025) – Charlotte Independence held a second consecutive league clean sheet on Saturday night, playing Chattanooga Red Wolves SC to a scoreless draw at American Legion Memorial Stadium.
Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the stop-and-start affair. The teams combined for 36 fouls, 18 a piece, and neither team could find any real momentum in the game. The match finished with seven yellow cards in the heated tilt.
The Jacks’ best chance came in the 59th minute. New loan signing #18 Alfredo Midence latched onto a #7 Luis Alvarez through ball, beat his defender twice, but his shot was denied off the line by Chattanooga’s #2 Kimball Jackson.
Both teams mustered up 8 shots, but only three Charlotte Independence shots found the target. Substitute #26 Souiabou Marou nearly scored his first Jacks goal in the 71st minute, touching a volley nearly through the legs of Chattanooga goalkeeper #1 Jason Smith.
Though Chattanooga failed to hit the target, they came close on multiple occasions. The best came in the 92nd minute as #9 Zaire Vasquez’s effort from outside the box curled just wide of #28 Matt Levy’s post. In the 96th minute, a deflected chance from just outside the six-yard box bounced past Levy’s outstretched hands, but also finished on the other side of the post.
The clean sheet marks Levy’s second in a row to start the season.
The draw keeps the Jacks in fifth place through two games in the USL League One standings.
QUOTES:
Coach Mike Jeffries on his team’s performance:
“Disappointed to not get a win at home. I do not think we were as sharp as we needed to be, especially in the first half, and we squandered half chances and opportunities. The work rate was good and it is nice to get a clean sheet, so credit to the back group and the guys working in front of them to get that accomplished.”
Jeffries on the start-and-stop nature of the game:
“They came out with intensity and that was part of their plan to stop us from getting into a rhythm and it was successful. You could see our guys get frustrated and we didn’t manage it as well as we should’ve managed it. The game never really got a good flow and we never really got a comfortable rhythm.”
New loan signing Alfredo Midence on his debut:
“It felt pretty good to be with this group. We just need to finish our chances and we’ll be great.”
Defender Mike DeShields on a second clean sheet and continuing to gel with the group:
“We’re proud of the work we are doing defensively. Nick [Spielman] and I have a good thing going, and we hope to keep it up going forward.”
