Columbus Crew II and Carolina Core shared three points in MLS Next Pro's Group Stage at Historic Crew Stadium on Sunday evening. The match finished 1:1 after regular time before Carolina won the penalty shootout, ending their run of fruitless encounters with a narrow victory.
R. Montrego opened the scoring in the twenty-fifth minute, a moment that felt like the home side might control the tempo. J. Chirinos equalised shortly after the break, and by then the game had settled into something more cautious. Z. Lloyd's red card in the sixty-fourth minute changed the shape of things, forcing Columbus to defend deeper.
What followed was a penalty shootout that stretched into extra time. R. Baer missed the first spot-kick for Columbus, and Carolina never looked back. B. Adu-Gyamfi, D. Diaz, J. Danjaji, N. Rincon and an unnamed taker converted for the visitors, while Columbus managed three responses from Lundeen, Aguirre and another. The stadium fell silent as Carolina extended their unbeaten run through the shootout.
And here's the thing about the statistics. Columbus had 53 per cent possession and 95 attacks, but only three shots on target from twelve attempts. Carolina were more clinical with 36 per cent accuracy and four shots on target. They won more free kicks and corners, but the difference lay in efficiency, not volume.
We had given Columbus a 53 per cent chance of victory, but the match went another way. The red card came too late to save them, and the shootout exposed a lack of composure when it mattered. Carolina moved to fourteen in the table with thirty points, while Columbus remain fourth on forty-six.
