Charlotte Independence v New York Red Bulls II @ Memorial Stadium

It seems like forever since we've interacted with friends, and now with Covid settling down a little bit, we took the chance to hang with the Lochmans and go to the opening of Charlotte's revamped Memorial Stadium.

We met them at 1900 Mexican Grill for dinner al fresco before walking the 2 blocks down to the stadium.

The stadium looks great, and we have seats with our backs to the setting sun.  For an opening night, it is a little disappointing to see the stadium not half full, but it is blazing hot and people are still weary about being around other people in these strange times.

The game itself was a good one.   It was good for the boys to be so close and to hear the way the players and coaches communicate.  Unfortunately the result was not the best for the Independence, though it always looked like the game could go either way.  The night finished with a massive fireworks display before the short drive home. 

It will be interesting to see how successful this move is for the Independence with Charlotte FC joining the MLS next season and taking home at Bank of America Stadium

Charlotte Independence 2 (Dane Kelly 19, 41) vs New York Red Bulls II 3 (Jeremy Rafenello 13, Omar Sowe 70, Austin Brummett 79)

Attendance: 4,231

Charlotte Independence:  Brandon Miller, Hugh Roberts, Christian Dean, Kevin Riascos, Marcelo Palamino, Brandt Brianco (Noah Paravincini), Jake Areman, Clay Dimick (Blake Pope), Dane Kelly, (Jordan Bender), Irvin Parra (Sylvain Marveaux), Valentin Sabella (Tresor Mbuyu)

Unused Subs: Distel Zola, Austin Pack

New York Red Bulls II: Luca Lewis, Emir Tombul, Joseph Zalinsky, John Cortez (Samuel Williams), Matthew Acosta, Serge Ngoma (Austin Brummett), Daniel Edelman, Michael Knapp (Kyle Zajec), Omar Sowe, Jake Lacava, Jeremy Rafanello (Nicholas Nee)

Unused Subs: Timofey Timchenko, Samuel Joseph