The Crown is playoff bound!!!!

Coming into the last regular season match for Charlotte FC in front of a home crowd of 66,101 fans at Bank of America Stadium on Saturday night. The weather was fall like and pleasant. Aside from some gusty winds there was nothing to complain of in that department. The scenario is simple. A must win game for the crown with some needed help in two other matches on Decision Day. If the starts aligned and the outcomes were favorable. The crown would be in the playoffs in only their second year of existence. 

We already know that Charlotte FC must get three points at home. A draw or a loss would end the Club’s second season short of the playoffs.

The other results that need to happen, though, are a loss or draw for two of the three teams sitting higher in the standings. While the scenario seems daunting, it is realistic on paper. All three of those teams play away from home against good teams playing for valuable seeding or playoff hopes.

CF Montreal, currently in 8th place on 41 points, travel to the Columbus Crew. The Crew are currently clinging on to fourth place, two points clear of New England in fifth place. The difference between those two places is huge; hosting advantage in the First Round Best of Three series is on the line. The higher seed gets to host Game 1 and a potential Game 3 at their home venue.

Thus, the Crew will be going all out for a win at Lower.com Field, where they have lost only once all season.

The New York Red Bulls, currently in 10th place on 40 points, visit Nashville SC at GEODIS Park. That Nashville team could jump all the way from seventh to fifth with a victory, and have also been excellent at home, losing only three times out of 16 matches this season.

Chicago Fire FC, currently in 11th place on 40 points, head to the Big Apple for a matchup with New York City FC at Citi Field. NYCFC has struggled more this year than in past seasons, but they still have a very talented squad, are fighting for their playoff lives, and have good home form with just three losses.

Charlotte FC’s draw on Wednesday, ironically, kept the Pigeons in the playoff chase for one more matchday, so they must win to have any hope of sneaking in.

In order to finish in 8th place and host the Wild Card match between the 8 and 9 seeds, the scenario is quite simple.

Charlotte FC need to win, of course, and then need all three previously mentioned teams to drop points in their matches. This would allow them to vault up four places from 12th to 8th.

If any of Montreal, Red Bulls, or Chicago win their match, then the best Charlotte FC can get is 9th place.

Both the Red Bulls and Chicago would be equal on points with CLTFC, but they hold the first tiebreaker advantage (total wins). Montreal is one point ahead, so they would remain ahead of the Crown by one point with a win.

Here is how things started to unfold as the evening transpired. 

As the match got underway there was a roar from fans on both sides as Lionel Messi was starting for the Miami side and the Charlotte FC fans were excited and hopeful to see a win and the playoffs. 

At the 1 minute 45 second mark a quick Miami goal was called back for a player being offside. This brought out a nervous moment for the Charlotte FC fans until the call was made of offside. 

After the first 10 minutes of play the Crown and Miami were still scoreless. Most of the action was taking place on Miami's side of the field with a various display of passing the ball around the pitch as if to look almost fine with taking a draw in the match as it would make the path to the playoffs for Charlotte FC almost impossible. There were a few moments of play that brought the crowd from both sides to their feet with long passes and some great defensive plays, but nothing resulted in a score.

At the 13-minute mark the first goal was on the board from Charlotte FC with a shot to the back of the net from Kerewin Vargas putting the crown up 1 - 0 and causing an eruption from the supporter's section that could likely be heard from nearby Concord.

After 35 minutes of play the Crown still held onto a 1- 0 lead and overall doing a favorable job of keeping Miami away from decent scoring opportunities. The crown was also showing a sense of urgency and aggressiveness that fans had been longing to see for most of the season.  However, you couldn't help but think in the back of your mind. Could it last? Miami turned up the intensity in the closing minutes of the first half taking several shots on goal. Kristian Kahlina stepped up to the challenge as he knew the season literally depended on perfection in the net tonight. 

Two minutes of stoppage time was added by the ref as the first half was coming to a close. Charlotte FC continued to hold a 1-0 lead with Miami taking one last shot on goal looking for the tie but Kahlina continued to be a force in the goal. At the half the Crown was up 1-0

As the second half got underway the crown continued to be very aggressive and playing with a sense of urgency keeping the supporters' section on their feet and chanting loudly as their team was playing to take down Miami and Lionel Messi to secure a spot in the MLS playoffs for the first time in club history. 

Miami brought a sense of panic over the crowd with a shot that was on goal but immediately called back with an offsides call. 

With 10 minutes to go in the match and Charlotte FC still maintaining a 1-point lead after several attempts to tie by Miami including a shot that ricocheted off the post after Kahlina made a block of the attempt. The fans were chanting "Charlotte FC" in unison as their hope for the playoffs were just minutes away. 

After three minutes of stoppage time was added to the match Kahlina continued to be a wall in the goal getting a clean sheet and securing the win for Charlotte FC. The crown only had to wait for the end of the other games to see if they would host a playoff match and make the playoffs for the first time in club history. 

Minutes after the crown got their much-needed win CF Montreal lost to Columbus Score while the Red Bulls scored a late goal which puts Charlotte FC in the 9th seed position meaning the club travels to New York Wednesday night to play NYCFC to advance through the playoffs. 

For now, all that matters is the crown is playoff bound!!!