The 17th-ranked Charlotte 49ers rallied behind a late headed goal from Maclean Holbrook to knock off Elon 1-0 in their first exhibition of the season.
“We were focused on the performance tonight over the result. We had a great spell in the first third of the game, we were scrappy throughout the second and got to see a lot of new faces in the final third. The new guys played well, and we scored a great goal — a lot to be proud of tonight,” Charlotte Head Coach Kevin Langan said.
Charlotte had a few chances to score prior to Holbrook’s goal in the 83rd minute but were unable to convert their chances.
The breakthrough came with 7 minutes left off a Callu Montgomery free-kick near midfield. Montgomery sent the free-kick into Elon’s 18-yard box, where Holbrook was able to head it past Elon’s backup goalkeeper, Jimmy Coyle.
After taking the lead, Charlotte was able to hold off Elon to see out the victory.
The 49er’s depth was on display tonight with Langan suiting up many of his new freshman.
“I always think a great college team needs 15 or 16 players that can come on at any time and contribute. We play multiple games a week for 15 weeks or so, so there’s going to be dips in form as well as injuries, and we’ll need a good amount of depth. I didn’t think our form dropped much tonight with the new players brought on,” Langan said.
Kyle Parker was also pleased with Charlotte’s team performance throughout the three 30-minute periods.
“It feels great to get a win under our belt. Starting the season off well is always great, as it boosts the team’s confidence. Some of the freshman stepped up and played very well tonight. We had a lot of great performances all around and it’s exciting to see,” Parker said.
The 49er’s goalkeepers Austin Pack, Justin Savinon and Elliot Panic combined to record the shutout, only allowing three shots and one corner kick.
Charlotte is immediately looking forward to their next exhibition against Duke before kicking of their regular season.
“We’ll enjoy this one and come ready to train in the morning to work on a few of our flaws from tonight’s match. The plan for tonight’s match was to not push anyone past 60 minutes of play so they could recover quickly. We’ll also start to build our relationships between our returners who haven’t played together in the past few months,” Langan said.
Charlotte has a few days to rest and train this week before heading to Durham, N.C. Friday night to face in-state rivals Duke for their final exhibition of the preseason.