North Charlotte Today

Charlotte FC follows their 1-0 victory over DC United with a midweek match against Orlando City. This marks the first encounter between the two teams this season. Last season, Charlotte dominated this matchup, securing two wins and a draw against the Lions. However, despite Orlando’s current position at 14th in the Eastern Conference, they are a talented team looking for a spark to turn their season around and cannot be underestimated.

Match: Charlotte FC vs. Orlando City

When: Wednesday, June 19

Where: Bank of America Stadium

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET

Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV – How to Watch & Listen

Listen: WFNZ 92.7 FM (English) & WOLS 106.1 FM (Spanish)

For all other radio station affiliates in the Carolinas, click here.

Previous Matches:

Charlotte FC 1 – 0 DC United (Major League Soccer | June 2)

LAFC 3 – 1 Orlando City (Major League Soccer | June 1)

Eastern Conference Table:

For the full live table, click here.

Dean Smith promised his defenders a bottle of wine for every clean sheet they managed this season. With the team now boasting a league-leading eight clean sheets and going five consecutive home games without conceding, the players are building quite a collection of bottles.

The Crown's defense has propelled them to fifth in the league and ninth in the Supporter’s Shield standings. Despite scoring the third-fewest goals in the Eastern Conference, they’re proving that a strong defense can make a significant difference.

“Defense wins championships,” said Brandt Bronico, reflecting on the team’s success this season. “If you can get the defense right, you can [then] start creating and having fun on the offensive end." He added, “The collective defense-first mindset is probably the most important thing in the locker room.”

Charlotte’s defensive solidity is a team effort, from Patrick Agyemang’s relentless pressing upfront to Kristijan Kahlina’s crucial saves in goal.

Dean Smith has dramatically redefined Charlotte’s identity this season. Once known for their shaky defense in 2023, they’ve become a defensive powerhouse among MLS elite teams. Although this success might be costly for Smith’s wallet due to his promise of wine bottles for clean sheets, he surely hopes it continues.

At the start of preseason, many pundits and media outlets considered Orlando City serious contenders for the MLS Cup. However, as the season has progressed, Orlando finds itself near the bottom of Eastern Conference standings. This is despite finishing second last season and advancing to conference semifinals before being ousted by eventual champions Columbus Crew.

The Lions are currently enduring a winless streak of four consecutive matches with three losses against some top teams including Columbus Crew, New York Red Bulls and LAFC; their latest game resulted in a 3-1 defeat against LAFC but was arguably one of their better performances this season.

Winger Facundo Torres has been standout figure while SuperDraft pick Duncan McGuire leads team goals with five followed by veteran Nicolás Lodeiro topping assist chart also at five assists each.Head coach Oscar Pareja has struggled getting roster - which is one on paper among most talented ones -to gel.Nevertheless there remains hope.If Orlando recaptures form from last year & finishes second half strongly ,they could still push playoffs .

CLTFC won first match over NYCFC with gritty win home then faced three consecutive road games securing draw Vancouver before tight losses Toronto Nashville .Upon finally returning Bank America Stadium team impressively downed defending MLS Cup Champions Columbus Crew by score secured another impressive result drawing defending Supporter Shield Champions FC Cincinnati After disappointing road loss New England CLTFC thrilling back forth match Toronto courtesy late Patrick Agyemang match-winner suffered two disappointing results row losses Minnesota NYCFC .However following those back-to-back losses Charlotte responded five-match unbeaten streak didn’t concede single goal streak ended New York Red Bulls yet Liel Abada swiftly revived winning momentum securing first brace Club subsequent game versus Atlanta United followed another win home D.C.Now face struggling opportunity make it three straight wins overall six straight shutouts home

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