Week four started on Thursday and saw action through Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, Saturday night’s scheduled match between Chattanooga and Omaha was postponed. Here’s a rundown of the matches that did happen.
Charlotte Independence 2-1 Spokane Velocity
Thursday March 28th, 7:30 PM ET
American Legion Memorial Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina
Attendance: 686
A Thursday night matchup in Charlotte saw a rested Jacks side on the attack, Spokane not so much. Spokane keeper Carlos Merciano saved three in the first 45 minutes, helping his side maintain a 0-0 draw.
However, Charlotte came out stronger in the second half, with Joel Johnson putting away a deflection of a Luis Alvarez shot. The goal came just 20 seconds into the half.
Spokane made two strategic substitutions in the 65th minute with Javier Martín Gil replacing Josh Dolling, while Jack Denton replaced Andre Lewis. The switch paid off, injecting life into Spokane’s offense. The second of two shots on target in the next eight minutes found the back of the net on a Martín Gil right footed shot, assisted by Pierre Reedy.
But In stoppage time, a questionable non-call in Charlotte’s box led to an attack the other way, with Alvarez lobbing a right-footed shot over the head of Merciano for the match winner.
Roster Updates
Charlotte added Juan Carlos Obregón just before last week’s US Open Cup match. The striker started both that match, and Thursday night’s league match against Spokane. Meanwhile, Gabriel Obertan was missing from the roster for both the US Open Cup and on Thursday, after starting the first match of the season. Miguel Ibarra and Shalom Dutey have not appeared on roster this season. Omar Ciss and Rayan Djedje both exited the Thursday night match with injuries.
Spokane’s Grayson Dupont exited the first match of the season with a knee injury, and has not appeared on roster since.
Lexington SC 2-3 Greenville Triumph
Friday, March 29th, 7:00 PM ET
Toyota Stadium, Georgetown, Kentucky
Attendance: 1,672
Say what you will about USL League One’s Golazo! debut being a college football field: the action and excitement of this match lived up to the hype. Lexington looked to have pulled away after a late first half goal from Isaac Cano, followed by an early second half goal from Cameron Lancaster. But just minutes later, Ben Zakowski deflected a Jamie Smith shot into the net to put Greenville on the board. The momentum shifted, and Lexington seemed to fall apart as goalkeeper Amal Knight received a yellow card and a subsequent red for dissent in the 84th minute. Just four minutes later, Lyam MacKinnon drove home an equalizer past Knight’s replacement, Nico Campuzano.
The match looked to be heading towards a draw when Hayden Anderson launched a throw-in towards the box in the 98th minute. The ball went over the head of Campuzano, took a weird bounce and deflected off of Lexington defender Kaelon Fox for an own goal. Greenville took the last minute win, and Lexington dropped its second straight league match.
Roster Updates
Lexington midfielder Yannick Yankam returned from international duty, entering the match in the 71st minute. David Lorea returned to the roster for the first time since week one, also entering in the 71st minute. However, Lorea was subbed off after Knight’s red card just ten minutes later. Lexington has been without the services of Erik Ceja-Gonzalez, Ebenezer Ackon and Michael Agboola. Anthony Patti was not on the roster for the first time this season. Lexington added defender Daniel Chica, a 22 year old with 13 appearances with Loudoun United in 2023, but Chica was not on the roster.
Greenville was without Hassan Gabo and Nate Shultz. They have not seen an appearance from Mohamed Seye yet this season.
Central Valley Fuego 0-3 Forward Madison
Friday, March 29th, 10:00 PM ET / 7:00 PM PT
Fresno State Soccer Stadium, Fresno, California
Attendance: 740
A very rainy night in Fresno saw a wild first half in which the visitors did something Madison fans haven’t been used to in a while: they scored three goals. It apparently started with a Derek Gebhard “right footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal,” according to the USL League One match report. We say apparently, because the match feed experienced technical difficulties, and official footage seems to not exist. Madison added two more late in the half, a John Murphy long range shot, his first in the league; and then a spectacular assist from Juan Galindrez was knocked in by Devin Boyce in first half stoppage time.
After no shots on target in the first half, Fuego opened the second half on the offensive, but Madison’s goalkeeper Bernd Schipmann saved his side four times, maintaining the clean sheet.
It was a chippy match, with yellow cards tossed out like candy: two for Madison and seven for Fuego, including a second for Jose Carrera-Garcia, and a resulting bench yellow for coach Jermaine Jones.
Roster Updates
Fuego started this match with just four on the bench, one of whom was backup keeper Andre Zuluaga. They were missing the services of Brian Bustamante, Rob Coronado, Moe Espinoza, Qudus Lawal and Jason Ramos, along with Emmanuel Gomez, Leon Morimoto and Tirimisiyu Opeyemi. The latter three have not appeared this season. Defender Razak Cromwell made his season debut, starting at center back in place of Ramos, while Josh Fawole started in place of Espinoza.
Madison’s Christian Chaney exited the match in the 13th minute with an apparent injury. Galindrez, who exited the last match with an injury, came on in his place and finished out the match. Aiden Mesias was not on the roster, after making his season debut late last match against Greenville. Madison is still without the services of Cherif Dieye.
One Knoxville 1-0 South Georgia Tormenta
Saturday, March 30th, 4:00 PM ET
Regal Soccer Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee
Attendance: 1,813
Knoxville put on another stellar performance, this time against visiting South Georgia Tormenta. The hosts dominated possession and shots, and seem to have figured out how to get those shots on target this season. Tormenta keeper Ford Parker stopped three, but there was no stopping Angelo Kelly-Rosales’ long range rocket, a surefire candidate for goal of the week. Kelly-Rosales is playing MVP caliber football so far this season, with 2 goals, 2 assists and a league-leading 11 chances created in just three matches.
Knoxville’s defense also shut down Tormenta, and did not allow a single shot on target all match. The side had one of the top defenses last season, seems to have retained that, and figured out the offensive woes that held it back last year.
Roster Updates
Knoxville has not seen action from Kingsford Adjei, who joined in the off season from Tormenta. DJ Benton missed a second straight match, while Sean O’Hearn was also left off the roster after exiting the previous match at halftime.
Tormenta was without the services of Alsadiq Hasan, Austin Wehner, Colin Mocyuanas and Pedro Campos. With a full roster, these players were likely cycled out.
Chattanooga Red Wolves vs. Union Omaha
This match is postponed to a later date due to delays in “playing surface upgrades” at CHI Memorial Stadium. Chattanooga played its opening match at Lexington, and hosted a US Open Cup first round match at Central High School in nearby Harrison, Tennessee.
The postponement means that both sides will only play one league match in the month of March. With next week off for Omaha, the Owls won’t have a league match until April 12th at Knoxville. Chattanooga has also postponed its home match against Charlotte on April 6th, and will not play another league match until a visit to Fuego FC on April 13th.
Both sides are active in US Open Cup action next week. Chattanooga will travel to Atlanta to face NPSL side Apotheos FC, while Omaha will host USL League Two side Des Moines Menace. Both matches are on Wednesday, April 3rd.
Roster Updates
Omaha added attacking midfielder Zeiko Lewis, who appears to have been released from Sacramento Republic after not appearing on roster this season. Lewis had 3 goals and 2 assists, mostly as a backup for Sacramento in 2023. He’ll join what should be a potent attacking tandem of Steevan Dos Santos and Jousé Gómez. Dion Acoff and Lagos Kunga have yet to appear in either regular season or US Open Cup action, while Ryen Jiba made his 2024 debut in the US Open Cup.
Chattanooga may be without the services of Jonathan Filipe who exited the first match with an apparent injury.