Wednesday, April 16, 2008

The 2007 Season
Since defeating the Western Mass Pioneers in penalties for the USL-2 title in 2005, the Eagles fortunes can best be described in two words – Richmond Kickers.

The Eagles have twice succumbed to Richmond in the playoffs. The first was in the 2006 USL-2 Final where the Kickers pressed their home-pitch advantage on their way to a 2-1 win. The second was in the opening round of USL-2 playoffs last season, where a much better effort from Charlotte resulted in an all too familiar 2-1 loss to the Kickers, this time in the 110th minute.

Since the Kickers joined the USL Second Division, Charlotte has gone 0-8-1 against them and 19-3-10 against the rest of USL-2. That being said, Richmond and Charlotte will meet three times during the 2008 regular season – and if the Eagles can get over this one, final roadblock between them and the USL-2 title, it could feel like 2005 come October.

The 2008 Season
The face of the Richmond/Charlotte rivalry, Robert Ssejjemba, is the most prominent addition to the Eagles cause due to the fact that his 25.5 points worth of offensive firepower in the last two seasons is instantly transferred from Richmond to North Carolina. The bad news is that the Eagles’ four-year sensation Jacob Coggins has joined the nearby Carolina RailHawks in the USL First Division.

Other than those two key maneuvers, the same-old formidable Charlotte Eagles will return in 2008 with three of their core players still intact: Dustin Swinehart (15 point season in 2007), Steve Shak (11 point season in 2007) and Jorge Herrera (7 point season in 2007).

The First Five
A two-game set with the defending USL-2 Champion Harrisburg City Islanders closes out Charlotte’s first five matches of 2008. The result of those two matches, coupled with a Friday, April 25 date with Richmond, should give Charlotte supporters a good idea of where their club’s title hopes stand this season. But as Charlotte’s first five is one of the league’s toughest, don’t be surprised if the Eagles put together a long mid-season winning streak in June and July and climb right back into the playoff picture – especially if Ssejjemba can regain his 2006 USL-2 MVP and Scoring Champion form.