Storms postpone Charlotte FC’s match against Columbus Crew

CHARLOTTE — After hours of delays, Charlotte FC’s match Saturday night against Columbus Crew at Bank of America Stadium was postponed due to weather.

Storms in the area that included lightning strikes delayed the match for nearly three hours from its original 7 p.m. kickoff. The clubs kicked off after 10 p.m. but were taken off the field after just 17 minutes of play.

Charlotte FC (8-12-2) officially announced the postponement before midnight. Updates on a make-up match against Columbus (7-5-9) would be provided at a later time, the club said.

Match has been officially POSTPONED

We will provide updates on new date when available. We appreciate everyone's cooperation tonight.
— Charlotte FC (@CharlotteFC) July 31, 2022

“It was a mess, frankly, I wish they would have actually canceled. We were there for probably about three hours. The match started and you could see lightning around, you knew something was going to happen.”

Charlotte is 5-9-1 against Eastern Conference opponents. The football club is 4-1-0 when it records a pair of goals.

The Columbus Crew went into the matchup after securing two straight shutout wins. The Crew are 6-3-6 against Eastern Conference opponents. The team is ninth in the Eastern Conference with 27 goals led by Derrick Etienne with five.

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The Crew sit in fifth place in the MLS’ Eastern Conference while Charlotte is in eighth place.

Saturday’s game is the second meeting between the teams this season. The last meeting finished tied 1-1.

Top performers

Karol Swiderski has scored five goals with two assists for Charlotte. Andre Shinyashiki has four goals over the past 10 games.

Etienne has five goals and five assists for the Crew. Cucho Hernandez has four goals over the last 10 games.

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Charlotte is 4-5-1 in its last 10 games, averaging 1.5 goals, 3.3 shots on goal and 4.6 corner kicks per game while allowing 1.6 goals per game. In its last 10 games, Columbus is 4-1-5, averaging 1.2 goals, 3.6 shots on goal and 4.9 corner kicks per game while allowing 0.9 goals per game.

Not expected to play

Charlotte: Vinicius Mello (injured), Adam Edouard Armour (injured), Guzman Corujo (injured), Christian Fuchs (injured). Crew: Artur (injured), Milos Degenek (injured).

>> Watch the match on Saturday at 7 p.m. live on TV64 and Telemundo. You can also live stream it on the WSOC Now stream in English and the WSOC 24/7 stream in Spanish.

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