Team Celebrates Luke Wachter’s game winning goal. Photo by Chris Crews.

Down three goals at half time and fighting the fog for 90 minutes, the 49ers prevailed  by picking up a much needed come from behind win. FIU forced the 49ers to fight their way back Saturday night by scoring three first half goals. Charlotte would rally in the second half by scoring four goals and picking up their school-record ninth straight victory.

“It was an incredible response from the team in the second half after falling behind 3-0,” Charlotte coach Kevin Langan said.

“Their first goal was our mistake, the second was a great hit from distance and the third was disappointing. We talked about it at halftime and we said that if we got one goal, we will get another, and another, and another. I am very excited for the guys, but we have to learn our lesson and we cannot put ourselves in holes like that.”

Daniel Gonzalez scored the first goal for FIU in the 14^th minute after some sloppy play from the 49ers. FIU would double their lead in the 30^th minute when Donald Tomlinson hit a rocket from 25 yards out. FIU would again add another goal only a minute later through a curled shot from Josue Espana. Charlotte would have a few opportunities to get a goal before the break but failed to convert on each occasion.

“We gave the team a few reminders at half time about what we do here and what we expect,” said Langan. The team certainly understood the message as the comeback started only six minutes into the second half.

Kyle Parker’s goal from a penalty kick opened the flood gates for Charlotte. Photo by Chris Crews.

The 49ers were awarded a penalty kick in the 51^st minute which Kyle Parker converted giving Charlotte their first goal of the night. “The first goal is always the biggest as it gets the team’s confidence up and gets us going a little bit more,” according to Parker.

Parker’s first goal would open the flood gates as he would continue to contribute to the comeback after bolting down the left side of the field in the 58^th minute and crossing the ball in to Monbo Bokar. Bokar slotted the ball into the right corner of the net giving Charlotte their second goal of the night.

Charlotte continued their second half dominance by netting a third goal through Harrison Steadman which was again assisted by Parker.  Luke Waechter scored the winner in the 70^th minute when he placed a perfect header past the FIU goalkeeper into the opposite side of the net.

“We’re a team that can score tons of goals and tonight they came from all over. It was four different goal scorers tonight and it wasn’t one person running away with all the stats. Approaching the playoffs we have to look like a team that doesn’t concede and a team that scores plenty of goals,” said Coach Langan.

Seventh-ranked Charlotte will look to continue their dominance as they have a week off before embarking on another road trip through Virginia. Charlotte will take on Old Dominion on the road next Saturday, October 18 at 7pm.

Photos by Chris Crews.