Charlotte FC earns first win of the season behind Enzo Copetti, Kerwin Vargas goals

At last, Charlotte FC can breathe a sigh of relief.

The second-year Major League Soccer team that started 2023 with three straight losses finally finished what it started on Saturday night — beating Orlando City SC, 2-1, on the road to notch its first win of the season.

Charlotte now has three points in the MLS Eastern Conference table.

The away team’s scoring came thanks to Enzo Copetti — the hard-working offseason signing out of Argentina who scored in the 26th minute — and Kerwin Vargas (37th).

Orlando’s Martin Ojeda scored in the 57th minute to cut the score to 2-1, and despite a few dangerous chances, Orlando couldn’t level the score.

Here are a few notes after Charlotte’s first win.

▪ Charlotte is off to a start that resembles last season. Just like in 2023, the Queen City side started last year with three straight losses before notching its first win against New England in match four. Why then did this season’s start feel so disappointing? Why did it have the pervasive “sky is falling” vibe? Plenty of reasons. Among them: Charlotte ended its 2022 season on a high; it returned its coach; it went out and signed and drafted players who could make immediate impacts — the exclamation point on an exceptionally optimistic offseason. Saturday night’s result won’t erase the issues the team is working on addressing. (The team’s chemistry in the attacking-third still is a work in progress, for instance, and the team still is banking on the return of several impactful defenders to return from injury.) But Saturday night can buy this team time. Just like a win did last season.

▪ Lattanzio’s four big personnel moves pay off. Those four? Inserting Kerwin Vargas (the winger Charlotte FC fans have clamored for since the first match), McKinze Gaines, Jaylin Lindsey and George Marks (GK) into the lineup. Gaines provided some much needed speed on the right wing; Lindsey lifted the ball-of-the-season right at Copetti’s feet for No. 9’s goal; and Vargas notched the game-winning goal that he essentially created for himself — a pair of shimmies followed by a right-footed strike just inside the box that snuck by the Orlando goalkeeper. (It’s worth noting, too, that Harrison Afful also started. He appeared to facilitate leadership and creativity, and he even panged a shot off the post that could’ve extended Charlotte’s lead to 3-1 in the second half.)

▪ An extra word on Marks: The 23-year-old Clemson graduate was as reliable as he was wondrous on Saturday night. Marks made a win-sealing save just past the 80-minute mark on Saturday, blocking a one-on-one, solid near-post shot with his left hand. He impressed beyond that, too. The one goal he conceded came after an acrobatic save that ricocheted off him and landed at the feet of Ojeda.

▪ Enzo Copetti could be uniquely special for Charlotte FC. He showed flashes of that tonight. His goal in the first half was one metric — but his energy and strength appeared to be another. Lattanzio challenged Copetti specifically in the press after last weekend’s difficult loss to Atlanta United FC, saying his star striker had to stop complaining to refs and be more resilient: “You need to play,” Lattanzio said in part. And play Copetti did.

▪ One glaring absence. Despite all the positives, there was one head-scratching omission: Where was Karol Świderski? Charlotte’s most recognizable player and its only player to make a World Cup roster did not play on Saturday. Coaches decision (tactical). Kamil Jóźwiak — the team’s third designated player along with Copetti and Świderski — didn’t start, either. He was subbed in the second half.

▪ Charlotte FC’s traveling fan base got plenty of attention on the MLS Season Pass broadcast on Saturday night — affirming that Charlotte fans are still among the best in MLS.