Despite loss, Charlotte FC’s three rookies impress in MLS debuts against Montreal
Before George Marks played for Charlotte FC or won a national championship with Clemson, he was a little kid who dreamed about having an MLS team in one of North Carolina’s major cities.
Now, he’s playing for that MLS team.
The Raleigh native’s soccer career has been based in the Carolinas, and he took a monumental step forward in that journey when he started at goalkeeper in his first regular-season match for Charlotte.
Marks, midfielder Quinn McNeill and defender Laukoa Santos stepped onto a pitch for an MLS game for the first time in the team’s last game against Montreal — a frustrating 2-1 loss.
Charlotte was forced to play without 10 players because of health and safety protocols, a limitation that opened up opportunities for the rookies to fulfill lifelong goals.
“It feels amazing to be a part of building that history and knowing all the passion that all the soccer fans in the Carolinas have,” Marks said.
While he’d worn the uniform before — both as a backup to starting goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina and in U.S. Open Cup games — Saturday was especially rewarding.
“If you would have told me that I could represent my state and one of the big cities in North Carolina in MLS, it’s just too good to be true,” he said.
The other two hadn’t worn the jersey before, instead playing for Charlotte’s USL League One affiliate, the Charlotte Independence.
McNeill, who grew up in Greenville, S.C., and played with Marks at Clemson, emphasized the impact the local ties had on him. In seemingly every game he’s played in, someone he knew, whether from childhood, high school, college or elsewhere has been in the stands, he said.
“To be able to put the jersey on for those kinds of people and myself and just represent, it’s a pretty cool experience,” he said. “They’ve been with me and behind me ever since I was younger and to watch that come true is pretty cool.”
Santos doesn’t have that regional connection to the team, having grown up in Hawaii and going to San Diego State, but he always pictured himself playing in the MLS one day.
He played out of position for Charlotte due to the unavailable players, sliding in as a midfielder instead of his usual defender position when Jaylin Lindsey received two negative COVID tests and was cleared to play.
“I didn’t go in with complete confidence, but it was enough to get the performance done,” Santos said.
None of the players had gaudy stats. Marks made one save but gave up two goals, McNeill came in for Derrick Jones in the 68th minute with Charlotte trailing but didn’t register a shot, and Santos committed a pair of fouls before being substituted for Christian Fuchs in the 57th minute.
Despite that, coach Christian Lattanzio praised their efforts and the way the rookies carried themselves on the pitch. That’s the first thing the coach looks for — the player’s on-pitch personality — and he noticed that all three players didn’t look fazed by the moment.
The coach announced the team’s lineup in a film session less than a day before the game. After the film session, where Marks and Santos found out they’d start, Guzmán Corujo came over to the rookies and delivered some heartening words.
“He said, ‘You’ve been working hard, you deserve this’ and it was really reassuring to hear from obviously, a big presence on our team,” Santos recalled.
Charlotte hasn’t announced its inactive list for Thursday’s home contest against Austin FC, but Lattanzio said that some of the players unavailable against Montreal have returned to the lineup.
That could push some of the rookies back to the bench or down to the Independence.
“They have to keep working hard every day because opportunities will come,” Lattanzio said. “How and when, we don’t know, but they have to be ready to take those opportunities.”
