The Charlotte 49ers kept another clean sheet at home with a defensive 3-0 win against USC Upstate.

The first half saw strong possession from Charlotte and chances for the Niners to take an early lead. In the 18th minute, forward Preston Popp took a great shot that narrowly missed the net and hit the right post. The first half ended with 10 shots in total for Charlotte, but ended on a 0-0 draw.

The second half started out better than the first half. It wasn’t until the 64th minute that the first set of goal-scoring action started. The first goal was scored by Charlotte forward Maclean Holbrook. The goal was assisted by defender Noah Seach who crossed it over to Holbrook, who then taps it into the net past Upstate goalkeeper Andrea Bonavia.

The second goal came just a short 12 minutes later in the 76th minute by Teddy Chaouche, the 49ers midfielder, scoring his first game for the season. This was assisted by midfielder Joe Brito and a throw-in by Ethan Sawdon. Brito managed to beat an Upstate defender and get the goal to Chaouche for the goal.

“I just knew where I wanted the ball to go and it went perfectly,” said forward Chaouche.

With just 13 seconds to go the second half, the Niners ended with an excellent finish by Jake Gusler, also scoring his first game of the season, allowing the game to end 3-0.

“What we saw from Jake tonight is what we see every day. He has great quality, he wants the ball, he’s courageous, and you saw that goal at the end; that was a really hard goal.” said head coach Kevin Langan.

“It’s the whole team working together; fighting for each other. It’s really good for us to have another clean sheet.” Chaouche said.

This concluded tonight’s game which finished with an advantage for Charlotte of 20-6 shots with 11-5 on target.

The next game for the Niners will be at home for a non-conference senior night match against UIC on Saturday, Oct. 27 at 7:30 p.m.