CHARLOTTE — When Charlotte FC won just one of its first eight games in its second Major League Soccer season, it looked like the Queen City would have to wait even longer for one of its David Tepper-owned teams to reach the postseason.
But quietly, Charlotte started to piece together some momentum. They went 5-2-0 in their next seven matches. Two losses were followed by five straight draws.
And while Inter Miami was drawing all of the league’s attention after adding living legend Lionel Messi to its roster, Charlotte was climbing the standings.
After being knocked out by Messi and Miami in the Leagues Cup, the Crown returned to its MLS schedule with a win followed by four straight draws. Two consecutive losses were followed by two more wins.
That set up a do-or-die home-and-home series against Messi and Inter Miami last week — win both and Charlotte was in.
Messi missed the game in South Florida while playing for Argentina, but Inter Miami still threw a kink in Charlotte’s plans with a 2-2 draw.
That set up Saturday’s match at Bank of America Stadium in front of 66,101 fans hoping to both watch Messi and see Charlotte FC earn a playoff berth.
The second-year team got the 1-0 victory it needed — along with help elsewhere in MLS — to claim one of the two remaining Eastern Conference playoff spots in a scramble of five teams. The Chicago Fire and CF Montreal lost earlier Saturday, allowing Charlotte to clinch a playoff berth with the victory.
“We are very pleased to be in the playoffs and to be alive,” Charlotte FC coach Christian Lattanzio said.
Kerwin Vargas’ goal in the 13th minute was enough to seal the victory, and Charlotte held Miami without a goal — Messi did score, but the play was ruled offside — down the stretch in a season in which it has yielded many late-game goals.
“It’s really a special moment because all season, I can say for me, we struggled,” Charlotte goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina said. “A lot of draws, a lot of [conceding late goals]. … Something [is off] our back, and even I don’t know how we made this.
“I can say for my side, not that I didn’t believe, I work hard, but for me it was like, ‘How can we do this?’ I was looking like 17 games we had like two wins before all these good results. It’s difficult to put in your head to believe in this.”
Now Charlotte’s fans — the team finished second in attendance this season — will have at least one home playoff match to watch.
Charlotte FC earned the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference and have a wild card game at eighth-seeded New York on Wednesday. The Crown is 1-0-1 against the Red Bulls this season, and the winner of the match will secure a spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs bracket and face top-seeded FC Cincinnati.
If it’s Charlotte that advances, the best-of-three series will start Sunday in Cincinnati with Game 2 on Saturday, Nov. 4 in Charlotte. Game 3, if necessary, would be Nov. 11 back in Ohio. The Crown was 0-1-1 against Cincinnati — which as Supporters’ Shield winners hold home-field advantage throughout the MLS Cup — during the regular season.
