The Charlotte Independence were a bit unfortunate to miss out on the postseason in their first season last year. The 2016 squad, however, left little doubt about its USL Cup Playoffs credentials. Coach Mike Jeffries’ side has shown some balance and depth among the roster, improving its road record by leaps and bounds while producing at a higher clip offensively. Charlotte opens the postseason on the road, and while a home quarterfinal match would have been ideal, the Independence could pose to be one of the more dangerous low-seeded teams in the playoffs.

2016 USL Playoffs: Quarterfinal matchup:
No. 5 Charlotte Independence at No. 4 Rochester Rhinos – Saturday, Oct. 1, 6:05 p.m. ET, Rhinos Stadium

2016 USL regular season:
Records:
Overall: 14-8-8 (50 points) | Home: 9-5-1 (28 points) | Road: 5-3-7 (22 points)

Goals For: 48 | Goals Against: 29

Leaders:
Goals: 1. (tie) Brian Brown, Enzo Martinez 9; 3. Jorge Herrera 7; 4. (tie) Caleb Calvert, David Estrada 6
Assists: 1. (tie) Brian Brown, Enzo Martinez 5; 3. Lewis Hilton 4; 4. (tie) 6 tied with 2
Saves: 1. John Berner 51; 2. Cody Mizell 35

Clinched its postseason … Aug. 31; clinched with a 3-2 victory against FC Cincinnati

Defining moment: Charlotte’s four-game winning streak from mid-April to early May was the club’s best stretch of the season, with three of the four victories against fellow foes in the 2016 USL Cup Playoffs. Following back-to-back 3-2 wins against the Charleston Battery and Richmond Kickers, the Independence traveled to face the New York Red Bulls II, and they handed NYRBII its first loss of the season on May 1. Charlotte’s 2-0 win probably was one of the more well-rounded games of the season. It also was against a New York defense that had not conceded a goal for 418 minutes until Charlotte’s Enzo Martinez tallied in the 13th minute. Charlotte defender Patrick Slogic upped the lead to two in the 33rd minute and from then on out the focus was on goalkeeper Cody Mizell and the Independence defense. Mizell wound up with seven saves and maintained the clean sheet.

Three keys to a championship run:
1. Brown at the finish: The Independence scoring department is the most evenly dispersed among the USL rosters, but Mike Jeffries has made it clear that he wants to see Brian Brown taking the lead in this role. The Jamaican striker is Charlotte’s main option, especially if he finds himself one-on-one against opposing defenders. Brown wound up sharing the goal-scoring lead with midfielder Enzo Martinez with nine goals during the regular season. Also like Martinez, Brown has proven himself to be a valuable distributor of the ball, sharing the club lead with him in assists with five. While the latter is an impressive intangible, ultimately Charlotte wants to see Brown with that final touch.
2. Cohesive defense: The defensive unit has certainly improved over the past year. Charlotte posted seven shutouts last year and improved that number to 10 in 2016, with several of the same pieces in place. This appears to be a much more collective group, with John Berner handling the brunt of the goalkeeping duties and the likes of Bilal Duckett and outside back Patrick Slogic solidifying things in the back. Slogic’s two-way play could prove to be beneficial, as well. In Charlotte’s final five regular-season games, the club conceded only three goals, a far improvement compared to the start of the year, and it will need to maintain that demeanor for the postseason.
3. Herrera’s heroics: Veteran midfielder Jorge Herrera, an icon in his own right within the Charlotte soccer community, is at some stage going to be a focal point in the postseason, even if it is potentially in a lesser role. One of the top goal scorers in USL history, Herrera has come off the bench for approximately two-thirds of the Independence’s regular-season matches this year. He still has produced seven goals and two assists in 1,109 minutes, and if Charlotte is in need of a spark or a game-changing moment, Herrera is the go-to guy.

QUOTABLE:
“This is what you want your team to be – being at its best toward the end of the season, and that’s what’s happening for us.” – Charlotte Independence Midfielder David Estrada