Photo courtesy Charlotte Independence
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Some time on the road did a lot of good for the Charlotte Independence’s playoff hopes, as a four-game undefeated streak that saw the side take two wins and two draws away from Ramblewood Stadium solidified the second-year club’s position in the Eastern Conference’s top eight.
With the side now set for its first home game in almost a month when it hosts North Carolina rival Wilmington Hammerheads FC, the team’s focus is now set on building momentum toward the postseason.
“We got off to a good start in the first 10 games,” Independence Head Coach Mike Jeffries told the Charlotte Post’s Ashley Mahoney. “We kind of muddled through a little bit during the middle third for a bunch of different reasons, and now feel like we’re kind of trying to get into stride to where we can be a dangerous team and a top team at the end of the regular season and into the playoffs. We want to be playing our best level at that point.”
The Independence currently sit seventh in the Eastern Conference standings, seven points ahead of the ninth-place Bethlehem Steel FC, it’s most recent opponent. Charlotte’s edge on the Steel could have been wider if not for a late equalizer by Bethlehem in the 2-2 draw between the teams this past Sunday. Despite that, Jeffries was pleased with the way his side played in both that contest, and the 1-1 draw against the Charleston Battery last Wednesday night.
“We had stretched in both of those games where we felt really good about how we played and how we pushed the game,” Jeffries told Mahoney. “We were the team that had the upper hand for good stretches of the game even while being on the road. That is certainly a confidence boost for us.”
Photo courtesy William Brown / Charlotte Independence
The four-game undefeated streak has definitely put a spring in the side’s step ahead of its game with Wilmington. The Hammerheads enter the game nine points back of the Independence in 10th position after a recent slide that has seen the side lose four out of its past five games. After Wilmington took a 2-1 win in its last visit to Ramblewood Stadium in July, though, Charlotte defender Bilal Duckett and his teammates are aware of the threat the Hammerheads pose.
“We’re playing with a lot of confidence and a lot of guys are contributing, yet there’s still no complacency,” Duckett told Mahoney. “We’re still getting better, and we’re going to peak at the right time.”
With three of the team’s next four games at home, the chance to build momentum – and secure a first postseason berth in club history – is there for the taking.
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