On a beautiful evening in the Queen City, Charlotte FC welcomed the defending US Open Cup Champions, Orlando City to town. The second-year MLS franchise used a second half goal from Kamil Jozwiak to eliminate Orlando, 1-0.
It marked just the third time in the tournament’s Modern Era (1995-present) that the defending champion didn’t advance in its opening game.
Both teams tried to find the momentum early and set the tone of the match. Things would get heated from the beginning as each squad would see a yellow card handed to them.
Charlotte and Orlando would create opportunities, however neither team would find the back of the net in the first half.
The breakthrough wouldn’t arrive until the 70th minute, when substitute Kamil Jozwiak would put the ball in the bottom corner of the goal for the Crown.
Some confusion would surround the goal however, as it appeared the referee was about to blow his whistle for a foul. But Jozwiak kept going to find his second goal in as many US Open Cup matches.
“In these types of games, we have to be focused from the beginning, and score the first goal,” said Jozwiak in the post-game press conference.
Match. Winner. #ForTheCrown pic.twitter.com/ttLZjH5GDo
— Charlotte FC (@CharlotteFC) May 10, 2023
Charlotte head coach Christian Lattanzio also spoke of Jozwiak being “hangry in training, and wanting more”.
One more yellow card would be handed out to Charlotte FC and two more to Orlando City before the referee would blow his whistle to signal full time.
Orlando joins the 2003 Columbus Crew and the 2007 Chicago Fire as the only defending champs to be “one-and-done.”
Charlotte FC will now await their next US Open Cup opponent on Thursday.
