CHARLOTTE, N.C. — After defeating previously ranked No. 22 FAU last Friday to take over the top spot in the American Conference standings, Charlotte Men’s Soccer, now ranked No. 24 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, looks to continue the upward momentum with another crucial conference match-up, this Friday on the road in Miami against FIU.
DATE AND LOCATION
🗓️ Friday, October 24
📍 FIU Soccer Stadium // Miami, Fla.
📺 ESPN+
NO STRANGER TO THE POLLS
For the first time this season, Charlotte is ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, sitting at No. 24. This is the 18th consecutive season (2008-present) in which the Niners have appeared in the polls at least once during the season, and the 21st season since the poll’s inception in 1996. Out of those 18 consecutive seasons, 14 have occurred under the lead of Head Coach Kevin Langan.
LAST TIME OUT
The Niners are most recently coming off a 1-0 victory over previously ranked No. 22 Florida Atlantic at home to take over the top spot in the American Conference standings.
Charlotte was aggressive out of the gate and put together several scoring opportunities in the first half, including a few good looks from Denis Krioutchenkov, but ultimately was unable to connect. While the offense maintained persistence, the defense stayed strong and only allowed FAU to take two shots in the first half, one of which was on goal.
Coming out of the break, the Niners looked to maintain their game in hopes of eventually finding the back of the net. In the 57th minute, Tate Asante was able to connect off assists from Diogo Fazenda and Jemone Barclay to give the Niners a 1-0 lead that they managed to maintain for the rest of the play. This was Asante’s second goal of the season.
The Charlotte defense was a shining spot, as the back line only allowed the Owls to take three shots in total (two in the first half and one in the second), and only one of those shots was on goal. To put that into perspective, this season, FAU has averaged 11.6 shots per game.
AMERICAN HONORS
Charlotte has racked up 15 American Conference weekly honors thus far, including three this week.
The Niners earned Defensive Player of the Week for the third week in a row as Jemone Barclay earned the honors this week after recording an assist in his third consecutive match. Barclay was also a crucial member of a backline defense that allowed the Owls to take only three shots throughout the entire match, ensuring Charlotte came away with a 1-0 victory.
Sophomore forward Tate Asante was named Co-Offensive Player of the Week after scoring the game-winning goal in Friday night’s match-up. This was Asante’s second goal of the season and first game-winning goal of his collegiate career.
Freshman forward Diogo Fazenda was named honorable mention after also recording an assist on the crucial goal in the Niners’ victory. Fazenda has appeared in 10 games this season and has recorded two assists thus far.
The list of American weekly honors thus far for the Niners is:
Offensive Player of the Week – Elias Arsvoll (Sept. 1), Tate Asante (Oct. 20)
Defensive Player of the Week – James Nyandjo (Oct. 6), Andreas Evangelou (Oct. 13), Jemone Barclay (Oct. 20)
Goalkeeper of the Week – Leonard Stritter (Sept. 1), Leonard Stritter (Oct. 13)
Freshman of the Week – Wiktor Pucilowski (Sept. 15), James Nyandjo (Oct. 6)
Honorable Mention – Andreas Evangelou (Sept. 15), Robert Franke (Sept. 15), Orthodoxos Orthodoxou (Sept. 22), Ben Fisher (Oct. 6), Denis Krioutchenkov (Oct. 13), Diogo Fazenda (Oct. 20)
NOTABLE STATS AND LEADERS
Charlotte leads the American Conference in goals with 24 scored on the season thus far. The Niners also lead the conference in shots with 162.
Out of Charlotte’s 24 goals scored thus far, 11 have come from different players. The Niners to score this season are: Denis Krioutchenkov (5), Elias Arsvoll (4), Orthodoxos Orthodoxou (4), Andreas Evangelou (3), Tate Asante (2), Natsuki Ogata (1), Xavier Holloway (1), Robert Franke (1), Wiktor Pucilowski (1), James Nyandjo (1), and Ben Fisher (1). Orthodoxou, Asante, Holloway, Evangelou, Pucilowski, Nyandjo, and Fisher have all recorded their first collegiate goals this season, while Franke recorded his first Division I collegiate goal. Charlotte leads the American Conference in unique goal scorers.
Denis Krioutchenkov leads the team in goals and shots with five goals and 40 shots, 18 of which have been on goal. Krioutchenkov leads the American Conference in shots and shots per game, averaging out to 3.33, which ranks 20th in the NCAA.
Elias Arsvoll leads the team in assists with four and leads the team in points with 12. Arsvoll’s seven-point performance against Queens (N.C.) on August 25 can be noted as the second-highest single-game point performance in Charlotte Men’s Soccer history after a 12-point performance from all-time points leader Fernando Sosa in 1979.
On the goalkeeping side, Leonard Stritter leads the team in every category as he is the only keeper to see regular-season action thus far. Stritter has recorded a career season high of 39 saves and recorded a career game high of six saves against No. 13 High Point earlier in the season. Stritter has also recorded five shutouts this season, which leads the American, and has currently recorded a clean sheet in three straight games.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The Panthers come into Friday’s match sporting a 5-7-2 overall record and a 3-3-0 conference record. FIU has dropped its previous three matches, including two conference games against South Florida and Tulsa.
Fifth year forward, Eduardo Mustre leads the team in goals scored with six on the season and points with 12. Junior Pasquale Capriati leads the team in assists with three and has scored three goals for the Panthers as well.
FIU has looked to junior goalkeeper Nigel Van Haveren for the majority of action in the net. The Dutchman leads the American Conference in saves alongside South Florida’s Jahiem Wickham with 43 on the season. Van Haveren has let in 22 goals in 13 matches.
SERIES HISTORY
Charlotte and FIU have matched up 21 times in the past, with Charlotte leading the head-to-head 10-8-3. FIU leads the head-to-head in Miami, 5-2-2. The last time the two squads matched up was in the final of the American Conference Championships, where Charlotte prevailed 2-1 in overtime to earn the Niners’ second consecutive American Conference Championship title.
UP NEXT
With a win on Friday, Charlotte can secure their spot in the American Conference Tournament, with the regular season title still up for grabs. Following Friday’s match, the Niners will come back to Charlotte for the final time in the regular season for a match-up against Temple, on Wednesday, Oct. 29 at 7:00 p.m..
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