CHARLOTTE — The most successful campaign in Charlotte FC’s four-year club history came to a close Friday night in the rubber match of a best-of-three, first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
Playing at Bank of America Stadium where it had one of the strongest home advantages in the MLS this season, No. 4 seed Charlotte FC fell 3-1 to No. 5 seed New York City FC.
The result kept up the trend of all three playoff games in the series being won by the road team. Charlotte dropped the first match 1-0 to New York on Oct. 28 at home, but responded on Nov. 1 with a 7-6 penalty kick shootout win on the road.
On Friday, Charlotte’s offense couldn’t ever find its rhythm as it took 16 shots but only had one on goal; New York had eight shots and seven of them were on target.
Shortly before halftime, New York midfielder Nicolas Fernandez scored unassisted as he got in a shot past Charlotte FC goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina to make it 1-0 at the break.
In the 50th minute of the match, NYCFC forward Alonzo Martinez gave his club a 2-0 lead.
Charlotte responded in the 81st minute with its lone goal of the three-game series as 25-year-old first-year forward Idan Toklomat put his club on the board and within reach of a possible tying goal.
Archie Goodwin and Harry Toffolo had assists on Toklomati’s first postseason netter, marking the first goal contribution for Goodwin and Toffolo in their first postseason.
However, Fernandez soon scored his second goal of the night to put New York up two.
Second-year Charlotte coach Dean Smith questioned if Fernandez should have been called for an offsides penalty on the play.
“It would have been nice to see that goal ruled off at the end for offsides to give us another five minutes to possibly get back in the game,” Smith said. “But I’m proud of the lads in terms of how they played today, because I thought our performance was very good. The fans turned up and turned up. Much better performance. Better team on the night, but sometimes sports are cruel. We didn’t get the result that we deserved tonight. We didn’t take our chances, but our intensity was there.”
NYCFC now advances to play No. 1 overall seed Philadelphia on the Union’s field in the second round, while Charlotte has been sent home from a first-round playoff series for the second year in a row.
“I must apologize for tonight,” Charlotte FC captain Ashley Westwood said after the game. “Well, not just tonight, but the past three games. It’s been below our standards, but it’s been a good year and we will see you all back here next year.”
Charlotte FC had set new club highs with 19 victories and 59 points during the regular season, winning 11 of its final 13 games. In the postseason, though, the club struggled to acclimate following a season-ending knee injury in October to midfielder Pep Biel, an MLS MVP candidate during the first half of the season.
Westwood said that he’s still continuing to see improvement in the club despite its latest setback, although the club will need players to make up for the loss of star defender Adilson Malanda, who will transfer to Middlesbrough FC next season.
“Last year, I don’t think we were set up to win, but this year is disappointing,” Westwood said. “I felt like we had the team to go and challenge for a trophy. Obviously, now we’ve lost Adilson (Malanda), so someone’s going to have to step in with some big shoes to fill. But hopefully get Pep (Biel) back next year. Wilf (Zaha) will still be here, so we’re nearly there. We’re very close. Last year, I said we’d make the top four. Next year, we’re going for the top.”
Malanda, a 23-year-old standout for Charlotte FC since joining the club in 2022, noted that he “wanted to go further” in the playoffs, especially knowing his time in the Queen City was limited.
“I think we had the quality and everything to beat them tonight, but it’s football,” Malanda said. “There are things that we did not do that well, but you can’t change now. It’s too late. I’m really disappointed about that, but really proud and really happy to be able to play for the Charlotte Football Club. It was unbelievable. I’ll miss that, to be honest.”
Charlotte will now regroup as it prepares for its fifth MLS campaign when the 2026 season begins in late February.
