USL Feature
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
By NICHOLAS MURRAY
At the start of the USL PRO season, things just weren’t falling the Charlotte Eagles’ way.
Goals were short in supply, the side didn’t score until its fourth game and sat with just one point from its first five outings.
Since their sixth game of the season, though, things have certainly turned around. After earning their first victory of the season against the Los Angeles Blues on May 14, the Eagles are undefeated, going 5-0-2 in all competitions during that time. It’s a run that has allowed the side to claw its way back into the picture in the USL PRO American Division and has it facing the Wilmington Hammerheads tonight in the second round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
“I just think it’s a number of things,” Eagles coach Mark Steffens said. “A couple of guys getting healthy, the new players jelling with last year’s guys, a whole lot of little things that are coming together for us at the right time. We’re still not scoring a bunch of great goals, but it seems to be coming along a lot better than it was early on.”
At the center of the resurgence has been an excellent defense that has allowed only three goals during this seven-game run, recording four shutouts. The addition of goalkeeper Eric Reed to the side has helped, as has the adjustment of players to their new roles, in forming a base for the Eagles’ success.
“It’s also Josh Rife’s second year with us and he’s played in MLS and I think part of it is him just getting used to the league; he’s a great organizer back there,” Steffens said. ”There’s a lot of communication going on back there and that’s been pretty good all year. Josh Rife we’ve moved to holding midfielder; he’s really a back, but he’s done really well there and I think it’s taken him a few games to get comfortable there, so with all those things jelling there I think it’s helped us be stronger at the back than we have been.”
The Eagles have even been getting some offensive production from their defense. Right back Cheyne Roberts was named USL PRO Player of the Week for his two-goal performance against Wilmington in a league game just over a week ago, a testament to how far he has come since moving outside from center back at the start of the season.
“I think that took some time also for him to get figured out when to go into the attack and when not to,” Steffens said of Roberts. “Things like that, it’s taken a little while, but he’s been a big asset to the team, he’s got good speed, serves a good ball, very good in the air, so he’s got what it takes to play out there.”
Now the question is whether the Eagles have what it takes to continue their run of success. In a tough division, Steffens believes the biggest key to his side maintaining its form will be its health as the side doesn’t have as much depth as some of its rivals. However, he’s optimistic his team will be in the mix until the end.
“I’m real happy with how hard the team works at training,” Steffens said. “I don’t fear a let-up, but in this league there’s so much parity and there’s so many good teams that anybody can get hot and anybody can get on a losing streak, so it’s just going to be a game-in and game-out battle, and I think that’s the way it should be.”
As for tonight’s game, the opportunity to play Real Salt Lake in the third round is certainly an attractive one for both sides, which should make the contest a classic North Carolina derby.
“With Wilmington, even if one team’s up and one team’s down it doesn’t matter,” Steffens said. “It’s always [a battle] between Charlotte and Wilmington, a good clean battle, but a hard battle and usually a tight game that gets decided late a lot of times so we expect another one like that tomorrow. I think it’s going to be a good one, I think it’s going to be a good one for the fans to see.”