The Conference USA regular season championship in men’s soccer has come down to one game as the No. 5 Charlotte 49ers went on the road to take on the 13th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats for the fourth meeting between the programs. The top 15 ranking, according to NSCAA polls, for Kentucky is historically the university’s highest ranking in men’s soccer.
Charlotte (14-2-1, 6-1-1 C-USA) arrived at Friday’s match against Kentucky (10-4-4, 5-1-2) trailing the Wildcats by one point in the C-USA standings with 16 points. The 49ers captured a 2-1 victory, claiming the conference title and the No. 1 seed in next week’s C-USA Tournament.
The 49ers win tonight helped mark the third straight conference title for the 49ers, and their fourth out of the last five years.
The 49ers began the game with the first opportunities at goal, as Biko Brandock-Brennan had a couple of early chances go wide of the frame. This, however, did not scare the quick and stingy offense of the Wildcats, as Napo Matsoso opened up the scoring with a blistering shot from 15 yards out, assisted by Bryan Celis.
After Matsoso’s fifth goal of the season, Kentucky seemed to be in full command, getting opportunity after opportunity.
Just minutes after Charlotte freshman Zhuvonte Wilson came on the field, things started to turn around, as you could you feel his offensive presence as he served a great cross to Hans Honer who scored his fourth goal of the season on a counter attack to tie the score up at 1-1 in the 32nd minute.
Charlotte ended the first half with momentum on their side as they cranked a couple of shots towards the Wildcats goal, but not being able to capitalize, leaving the score at halftime to remain deadlocked at 1-1.
Conor Agnew and the rest of the 49ers came out of the gate in Kentucky just like California Chrome, the winning horse of the 2014 Kentucky Derby, as they scored their second goal of the game, just four minutes into the second half. Agnew received a pass from teammate Brandt Bronico and took an ambitious shot from the far corner of the 18-yard box, sneaking the ball near-post past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net to give the 49ers a 2-1 lead.
Just when everything was looking good for the 49ers, tragedy struck as the Wildcats were awarded a penalty kick in the 78th minute. Matsoso, who scored the first goal for Kentucky, stepped up to the penalty mark to attempt to tie up the score for the second time of the match.
Matsoso approached the ball and ripped a blistering shot that deflected off of the gloves of 49ers keeper Austin Pack. Pack not only saved the penalty kick, but he also saved Charlotte’s conference title hopes as the 49ers desperately hung on to a 2-1 lead late in the game.
Before the match was over, both programs suffered red cards.
With tonight’s win against the Kentucky Wildcats, the 49ers assure themselves of the number one seed and a first round bye at the next week’s C-USA Tournament hosted by Old Dominion in Norfolk, VA. The tournament begins Wednesday, Nov. 12, but the 49ers won’t play until Friday due to their first round bye.