USL PRO Game Report
Saturday, July 5, 2014
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Aaron Schoenfeld had a hat trick to lead the Dayton Dutch Lions FC to a 3-1 victory against the Charlotte Eagles at the Queens Sports Complex on Saturday night. The Columbus Crew loanee scored twice in five minutes late in the second half to lift his side to victory, and take the lead in the race for the USL PRO Golden Boot with his 10th, 11th and 12th goals of the season.
Dayton struck first in the eighth minute when Schoenfeld took a header and put it in just below the crossbar past Charlotte goalkeeper Alec Kann to give Dayton the lead. The Eagles had a good chance to even the score when Wells Thompson got off a good shot in the 30th minute from the top of the penalty area, but it went just over the crossbar missing the net.
Just before the halftime break, Charlotte had another chance that fell to Drew Yates, who took a cross and shot toward the top corner of the goal, but it was pushed over the bar by Dayton goalkeeper Matt Williams to keep the Dutch Lions ahead.
Charlotte continued to create opportunities to start the second half, but couldn’t find the back of the net. The Eagles almost evened the score when Darren Toby took a header off a cross, but Williams managed to pin it against the post to keep it out of the net. Charlotte's pressure would eventually pay off in the 59th minute, however, as a scramble in the Dayton penalty area ended with Johnny Leathers putting home a finish from close range to give the Eagles an equalizer.
The Dutch Lions responded strongly to the Eagles' goal, and Schoenfeld put the Lions back ahead in the 76th minute when he got another header into the net from a free kick by Shintaro Harada. Two minutes later Kann was awarded a red card for a tackle on Sebastian Thuriere as he broke in on goal, which resulted in a penalty kick. Brock Duckworth came into the game in the 79th minute to face Schoenfeld from the spot, but the Dutch Lions striker completed his hat trick with a low shot to the left corner.
Charlotte tried to get back into the game, and Zak Boggs took a header off a cross by Bilal Duckett and almost brought the gap to one, but Williams again came up huge with a diving save and punched the ball out. The Eagles were not able to come back from the two-goal gap in stoppage time as the Dutch Lions claimed their second win against Charlotte this season.
The Eagles return home on Monday, July 14th to take on Sacramento Republic FC. Tickets can be purchased at a discounted rate up until the day of the game (midnight) and can also be purchased at the gates for regular price. If you can’t make it to the game make sure to follow the action on twitter with the hashtag #CE93 and watch the game LIVE on www.youtube.com/charlotteeaglessc.