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Moments of MAYhem

Four weeks, six matches, thousands of fans, one family.

By Charlotte FC

June 6^th, 2024

The month of May will be one to go down in the history books. Six matches in four weeks brought chaos, highs and lows but above all else, it brought a sense of community, excitement and some great footy. Five straight matches unbeaten in a Fortress, a league-leading seven clean sheets behind a defensive powerhouse, this month spotlighted our presence in the MLS.

In every sense of the word, it was MAYhem.

MATCH #1: Charlotte FC 2-0 Portland Timbers

05.04.24

We made sure that our fans built new memories every time they stepped into The Fortress from showering you all with new content, gate giveaways, heartfelt stories to lively matchday theme nights.

Starting off strong with a fan favorite, we turned our home into the galaxy far, far away to kick off the MAYhem.

The Portland Timbers made their first appearance at Bank of America Stadium, unaware of the power this team holds in their home.

Down two key players, Kerwin Vargas and Liel Abada, The Crown’s younger players looked to step up in their absence to ensure the energy started on a high note this month. Patrick Agyemang, Iuri Tavares and a goal hungry Nikola Petkovic came out of the gates fast, keeping The Timbers on their toes the entirety of the match.

Nikola Petkovic notched his name in the history books after he netted his first MLS career goal to put The Crown up 1-0 against Portland.

The Crown solidified the 2-0 win with another goal, a clean sheet and a jumpstart the momentum for the month.

From the wise words of the Man of the Match himself:

And we couldn't forget a very important prematch moment - a minute to pause and shine a light on the tragedy that struck our community days before. Charlotte FC recognized the beloved heroes of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department, Joshua Eyer, Samuel Poloche, William Elliott and Thomas Weeks, who tragically lost their lives in the line of duty.

MATCH #2: Charlotte FC 1-0 Nashville SC

05.11.24

Rivalry week in MLS was upon us. A week dedicated to banter, tension and entertainment .... Except we didn’t get the invite.

Excluded, yes. But discouraged, nope.

We just decided to take matters into our own hands…

High tensions between fan bases, only raised the intensity between the teams on the pitch. So, we let the games begin.

Following a slow start, the back and forth play started to pick up. Patrick Agyemang exhibiting a never-give-up mentality.

The determination that exuded from Agyemang this match paid off in the 52nd minute when he capitalized off of his defender's imbalance, found a inch of room and sent a vicious lefty strike right for the corner to earn his third goal of the season and put The Crown up 1-0 over Nashville.

Head Coach Dean Smith took note of Agyemang's performance and looking into the future of this club he is liking what he is seeing.

The rest of the match the fort was held down from the back line swatting away Nashville's opportunities left and right, ultimately leading The Crown to their second victory of the month.

A Saturday night win against Nashville almost made Sunday morning cartoons seem... extra special.

Amidst the chaos, Charlotte FC took a pause to celebrate the win with Caroline Love, who has shared her story surrounding mental health and has come out of it resilient, strong and full of nothing but love.

Read her story of love, community and helping each other here.

MATCH #3: Charlotte FC 1-0 Chicago Fire

05.15.24

With a quick turnaround from Saturday to Wednesday, the team needed to ride the home momentum as they headed to Chicago in search of first road win of the season.

With Smith rotating the squad for a midweek match, first round MLS SuperDraft pick Tyger Smalls made his first professional start looking to prove he is a valuable asset to the team.

The first whistle blew, and our defense made their presence known early on. Smith felt confident in his backline to such an extent in his postmatch press conference, he stated, “I actually never thought they were going to score through the game, which is a really calming situation for me to be in on the sideline. That is the side of mentality I want”. Another clean sheet was at the forefront of Kristijan Kahlina and the rest of the defense's minds. With not one, but two diving saves that left jaws dropped, Kahlina put on a performance that frustrated Chicago until the end of the match.

The Crown earned a free kick just outside of the box and captain Ashley Westwood stepped up to the line and did exactly what he does best… Bangers Only. He cooly sunk the ball in the back of net, a vital goal.

The captain’s golazo not only delivered Charlotte FC’s first away win of a season but earned him a spot on Team of the Matchweek and won Goal of the Matchday, which oddly enough is Westwood’s second time winning this honor against Chicago Fire at Solider Field.

MATCH #4: Charlotte FC 0-0 LA Galaxy

05.18.24

Back at the Bank where that Fortress feeling hits you right as you walk through the gates.

THE STATS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

The Crown's next victim was LA Galaxy, a team who has hovered around the top of the standings this season. Three matches in eight days is no easy task combined with the pressure of upholding a win AND clean sheet streak.

In a back and forth start, Kahlina's consistency of making impressive save after save continued with a fingertip save off of a dangerously close shot from The Galaxy.

Patrick Agyemang was determined to create opportunities for himself and the team.

Defensive structure and intentional tactics was the driving force in Charlotte FC's shutout. Andrew Privett and Kristijan Kahlina were the backbone of this structure using awarness, composure and skill. Andrew Privett continuously earns his spot in the starting XI and shows why he's an integral part of the team's success, playing the second-most minutes of any non-goalkeeper since August 26, 2023 (2,160), trailing only the LA Galaxy’s Maya Yoshida (2,250).

In a last ditch effort to put a point on the board, The Galaxy took on the Croatian Wall and was denied not once, but twice in a row. Securing a 4th straight clean sheet.

MATCH #5: Charlotte FC 0-0 Philadelphia Union

05.25.24

To celebrate our Military Service Members, Charlotte FC collaborated with local U.S. Marine Veteran, former 7-year CPS forensic social worker and current tattoo shop owner Rocky Esparaza. Rocky designed special edition jersey numbers for the match, honoring the heroes of our military. To read more about the design and learn more about Rocky click here.

With 33,000 in attendance the supporters section was arguably the loudest The Bank has been all May, knowing this was the last home match in three weeks.

From first kick, both teams came ready to play creating early chances. Both Nikola Petkovic and Philadelphia Union leading scorer, Daniel Gazdag had close shots that were knocked away by the respective goalies.

Both teams were difficult to break down throughout the first half. Struggling to connect in the final third and each limiting each others scoring opportunities.

Scoreless well into the second half, a glimmer of hope was found when Liel Abada made his way off of the bench after recovering from an injury for the majority of May.

Abada provided dangerous runs that kept the Union on their toes but could not find the back of the net. However, The Crown’s defense continued to stay locked down marking the 5TH STRAIGHT CLEAN SHEET and the teams shared a point. Kristian Khalina has now cemented himself on top of the leaderboard for Clean Sheets in MLS.

ZERO goals allowed at home in May. Our ground was stood and our Fortress was defended.

MATCH #6: Charlotte FC 1-3 New York Red Bulls

05.29.24

After a stretch of five-straight unbeaten, Charlotte FC would have both momentum and tired legs heading back to the site of their playoff defeat in 2023. It was going to take every bit of energy and togetherness to compete.

High intensity from both teams was apparent in the first half. A battle of high pressure became the narrative as each squad looked to capitalize on mistakes.

Heading into halftime scoreless but confident, The Crown would face its toughest test yet… a weather delay on the road.

After an hour weather delay, a short warm up in the rain, The Crown were going to be tested. After fighting off multiple chances, the Red Bulls finally broke through with goals from Emil Forsberg and Andres Reyes.

A smile and cheer was cracked from the Charlotte FC traveling support as midfielder Ben Bender made his return to pitch for first time since September 20, 2023.

As any athlete who takes their first steps on the pitch post injury comeback would, Bender was eager to make his mark on the pitch. The Crown needed to get on the scoreboard and Bender delivered. Faking with his left and shooting with his right in the very final minutes of stoppage time.

As the clean street stretch came to an end, Charlotte FC walked away with an impressive 523 minutes without conceding a goal, a new club record.

6 MATCHES, 26 DAYS, 3-1-2, 11 POINTS EARNED OUT OF 18

When all is said and done the chaos had to come to an end at some point

Rightfully so, the MAYhem finally caught up to us.

BUT WAIT...

our "mayhem" continues!

So in other words, don't worry, we'll see you back in The Fortress before you know it.

Footnotes

Photos by Taylor Banner, Alana McCallion, Laura Wolf, Blue Amber, Lizzy Otten & Georgia Soares. Video by Ian Kunsey, Alexandra Warrington, Ryan Luparello, Marco Yanez & Ben Grijalva. Graphics by Tessa Hansen and Josh Wong. Story Written and Edited by Shannon Kingston.

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