Charlotte joins top three seeds in semifinals
- by Soccer America , Aug 25, 2013
No. 1 seed Richmond had beaten the Dayton Dutch Lions, 3-2 and 5-2, in the regular season but the Kickers only managed a 1-0 win Saturday night thanks to MLS veteran Joseph Ngwenya's second-half goal before 4,265 fans at City Stadium. Andrew Dysktra, who is on loan from D.C. United, preserved the win with a save on Joseph Broekhuizen's shot in the 87th minute.
Orlando City led the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, 2-0, after five minutes and cruised to a 5-0 win before 8,486 fans at the Florida Citrus Bowl. Long Tan had the first of two goals in the third minute, and Renan Boufleur made it 2-0 two minutes later. Dennis Chin and Anthony Pulis also scored for Orlando.
Goals by Dane Kelly and Mike Azira, both on counterattacks, on either side of the break proved to be enough for defending champion Charleston in its 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Blues. Matt Fondy had hit the post in the 21st minute for Blues, whose only goal was scored by Mohammed Roknipour late in the game.
Christian Ramirez and Jorge Herrera scored for Charlotte to stake it to a 2-0 lead before Lucky Mkosana pulled a goal back for the City Islanders in the 85th minute. Samuel Asante’s goal in stoppage time wrapped up the win for the Eagles.
USL PRO RESULTS, Quarterfinals:
Saturday, August 24
Richmond 1 Dayton 0
Orlando 5 Pittsburgh 0
Charleston 2 Los Angeles 1
Harrisburg 1 Charlotte 3
USL PRO SCHEDULE, Semifinals:
Friday, August 30
Orlando vs. Charleston, 7:30 p.m. ET
Saturday, August 31
Richmond vs. No. 5 Charlotte, 7 p.m. ET
