After going down by two goals before the half, things were looking grim for a Charlotte FC side that were the better team but found themselves trailing in Toronto. Fighting freezing temperatures and turbulent wind, the Crown fought back to earn a point but in the eyes of head coach Christian Lattanzio, it could have also very well been a win.
“[We feel] good and disappointed at the same time because it was there for us to win it. I give credit to the players because I think they played too well to not get back home with something.
“It was a tough night in terms of weather conditions because the wind played a big part. Every time there was a corner, especially with the ballistic capabilities of Federico Bernardeschi, the wind helps a lot, and it was really tough to play. But I think we played away with a lot of personality.”
Winger Kamil Jóźwiak was pivotal in Charlotte’s comeback as he was directly involved in both goals scored. The first goal came from a low, driven cross by Jóźwiak to a crashing Ben Bender who scored his first goal of the season.
“I thought that Kamil did very well on the first goal,”said Lattanzio. “To do something we prepared in training, and he went to attack the ball the way we want on the opposite side, so I’m very happy for Kamil because I know there has been a lot of this situation and numbers but tonight I thought he responded in the best possible way.”
The goal that Jóźwiak scored was another one straight from the training ground. Kerwin Vargas cut inside onto his right foot and whipped in a cross that landed in Jóźwiak’s path as he made a darting run to the near post.
“We work on this all the time on the training ground,” said Jóźwiak. “I knew Kerwin would go inside... I knew he would play this ball there, and it was a perfect ball from Kerwin. I had to slide for it because otherwise I couldn’t get it but I’m happy because I scored, and we still had a chance to win the game. This is exactly what I could expect from Kerwin and he also could expect this movement from me.”
Through the first three matches of the season, Christian Lattanzio stressed that mentality was something that the team was lacking and needed to improve. Following those three straight losses, CLTFC responded with a three-game unbeaten streak where in two of the games Charlotte came back from deficits.
The shift in mental resilience has been noticeable throughout this streak. The team has earned four points through their first three away matches, something they couldn’t manage in the inaugural season until July. Mental fortitude that Jóźwiak demonstrated as someone who didn't score last season, was benched after the third match of this year, but remained resilient and made his mark in his return to the lineup.
“Last season a lot of games when we were losing, we couldn’t get any points, but this year we are stronger team, our mentality is much better. If we are losing we keep going and we showed that today.”
“We showed that we are fighters.”
