Charlottetowne Hops Score Late, Come from Behind in 3-2 Win Over Port City FC
An 86th minute winner from substitute Jacob Bandel saw the Hops claim 3 points after being down 2-1 at halftime.
A late goal by substitute Jacob Bandel saw the Charlottetowne Hops win 3-2 over Port City FC last Saturday afternoon and get a crucial result in the Southeast Conference playoff race.
Port City set themselves up in what profiled as a 4-5-1, with star striker Aidan Payne leading the line. The former Gatorade North Carolina Player of the Year, he scored 51 goals in his senior season of high school at New Hanover in route to a state championship. He plays college soccer for NC State, where he made 15 appearances (3 starts) in his 2024 junior season and recorded 2 goals and 2 assists. Coming into this game, Payne was one of the highest scorers in the conference with 3 goals. The club looked to continue his goalscoring form by tactically keeping possession defensively and waiting to play through balls.
The Hops set up their shape in what seemed to be a 4-5-1, as well. Ricardo Ferreira, having 3 goals to his name going into the match, joined Aiden Gummer (who was making his first start of the year) in the attack. The game plan would be to get them the ball as much as possible by dumping it into the channels and meeting runs forward with crosses.
Just two minutes in, Port City were awarded a penalty after a Hops defender gave away a handball on the first corner for their opponents. Aidan Payne calmly walked up and sent the keeper the wrong way by placing the ball in the bottom right corner. Just that like, Port City were in dreamland.
However, the Hops responded as quickly as they would have liked to. From 25 yards out, Aiden Gummer proved he did deserve the start with a beautiful free kick, curling it over the wall into the top right corner.
The game would produce few chances for the remainder of the first half after the early goalfest until the first minute of injury time. After a Port City corner was cleared, the ball was swung to the right side where a dangerous back-post cross found an unmarked Aidan Payne. The forward headed it in with ease for his brace and 5th goal on the year, tying Appalachian FC forward Jaron Oughterson in the Southeast Conference golden boot race and giving Port City a 2-1 lead heading into the break.
But, after the break, the Hops controlled the majority of possession. Not looking to get outdone, Golden Boot candidate Ricardo Ferreira would reward the dominance after receiving a nice through ball out wide. Cutting in from the left, he put a low shot into the bottom right corner past Port City goalkeeper Eli Mumford to level the match at 2-2.
After some close chances on both ends following the goal, the Hops believed they had taken a 3-2 lead. Eli Mumford coughed the ball up in goal, but the ensuing finish was called back due to the ball already being out of play before the goalkeeper had given away possession.
Mumford was lucky he hadn’t costed his club a draw, but he continued to get tested while holding onto a fragile result. When Jacob Bandel subbed in at the 82nd minute for the Hops, he met the ensuing corner and just barely put the ball wide. That miss would not turn out to be costly, as just 4 minutes later, Bandel met a bouncing ball in the box after a long throw by center back James Jenkin and slammed his shot into the roof of the net. Mumford had been beat again, and the substitute’s heroics turned out to be enough for a successful Charlottetowne comeback.
With their third straight win, the Hops have now tied Appalachian FC for second place in the Southeast Conference on 9 points and with a +4 goal differential after 5 matches. However, both Port City and Bristol Rhythm AFC have a game in hand of Charlottetown. With a win, they can also draw level, tying for second place behind leaders Hickory FC, who are undefeated and 6 points clear of the Hops and Appalachian. This game between Port City and the Hops was just an example of how close the race for a playoff spot in the Top 4 will be.
After the match, Port City head coach Nate Torbett commented, “The boys did well, we are much better than last season. We were the better team today and just left something out there on the field. We get them again soon and we will look forward to finishing the job next time in Charlotte.”
The clubs will face off again very soon on June 14 at 7:30pm EST at the CSA OrthoCarolina Sportsplex. The Hops, who brought ~36 away fans (total attendance was 215) to Wilmington for this match, will be hosting the rematch. Before that, they play 865 Knoxville away on Wednesday, June 4 and Greenville United at home on Saturday, June 7. Port City’s next matchup before the rematch will be at home against Burlington United on June 11.
All photo and video content in this article is credited to the Charlottetowne Hops and Port City FC.
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