Our tour through the 2021 Atlantic Division to meet each of the Hounds’ opponents moves inland as we take a peek at another club we didn’t get to see in the shortened 2020 season, the Charlotte Independence.
Sometimes deservedly, sometimes inexplicably, the Independence have had the Hounds’ number since they joined the league in 2015. The Hounds are 0-6-5 all-time against the Independence, which makes them the only team in the division the Hounds have faced but never beaten.
Last season, Charlotte topped the table in Group G with an 8-4-4 record, but their season was brought to an end in the first round of the playoffs with a 2-1 extra time loss to the Charleston Battery. The Independence have made the playoffs three times in their six seasons, but a playoff win has eluded them, as their other two appearances were ended by the Bob Lilley-led Rochester Rhinos in 2016 and 2017.
Mike Jeffries remains at the helm of the Independence, the club he has led for all of its existence, save for a brief period away in 2019. His core group of returning players includes a former Hound, center back Hugh Roberts, and goalkeeper Brandon Miller, a longtime top backstop in USL.
Up front is a new-and-old pairing for Charlotte. Former all-league selection Enzo Martinez, the team’s most tenured player, will be able to partner with Irvin Parra, a forward with 27 USL goals to his name across stints with Seattle, Orange County, Las Vegas and San Diego.
The teams last met on July 7, 2019, when the Independence took a 1-0 win to snap a four-game Hounds winning streak at the Sportsplex at Matthews. The venue will be changed next time the teams meet in North Carolina, as the Independence have relocated to American Legion Memorial Stadium, much closer to the downtown Charlotte area. Memorial Stadium, which first opened in 1936, is reopening after a two-year renovation project.
The Hounds will play their first match at Memorial Stadium on Aug. 14, but not before the Independence make two trips to Highmark Stadium. Charlotte will be the Hounds’ home opener opponent at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 22, and they will return to Pittsburgh for a July 3 meeting.
