Charlotte FC lost a record-crowd-size home game, but its defense shined, sportswriter says

Charlotte FC’s first home game Saturday broke a Major League Soccer attendance record, with nearly 75,000 people in the stands at Bank of America Stadium. In the end, Charlotte fell 0-1 to the LA Galaxy, the new team’s second loss in a row.

“The team looked good on defense,” The Charlotte Observer’s Langston Wertz Jr. told WFAE’s Gwendolyn Glenn on this week’s Time Out for Sports. “They gave up probably too many shot attempts, but the goalie had a good day. Kristijan Kahlina had five saves. Charlotte's offense has to get better, Gwen.

“It’s just not able to manufacture enough goal attempts. They only had, I think, five attempted shots on goal and only two really good ones. They’re going to have to get better there. Ultimately, they’re probably going to have to get some new faces in here. It’s an expansion team; it takes expansion teams time for a reason.”

The match wasn’t the only headline-grabbing sports moment in North Carolina this weekend. The UNC men’s basketball team trounced the Blue Devils on Saturday, 94-81, in Coach K’s last home game at Duke.

“That had to be a really tough game for him to go into because you know it’s coming, you know it’s coming, you know it’s coming, and it finally gets to you, and you can see him before the game really get choked up,” Wertz said. “And I’m sure his players were just really, really tight. You know, national television, all the former Duke players there… That was a really, really tough environment — both for them and North Carolina to go into.”

Still, Duke and Mike Krzyzewski still have some games left as March Madness picks up. And Wertz says he’s going out as a great no matter what.

“He’s one of the greatest basketball coaches ever,” Wertz said. “He’s on Mount Rushmore, in my opinion, with John Wooden and Dean Smith and Roy (Williams). That’s an incredible career coaching he’s had."

You can listen to the full Time Out for Sports conversation above. Here’s a quick look at what else Glenn and Wertz covered this week.

• NC State’s women’s basketball team took home the ACC championship with a 60-47 win over Miami. 
• The Kentucky Wildcats women’s team beat No. 1 South Carolina and legendary coach Dawn Staley 64-62 for the SEC championship. 
• Winthrop University lost the Big South championship 79-58 to Longwood in Charlotte. 
• The Charlotte Hornets won two recent games, against Cleveland and San Antonio, and there’s some analysis on how new players Montrezl Harrell and Isaiah Thomas did on the court — and how star LaMelo Ball played. 
• There’s a look at local high school basketball games, including recent victories by the Rock Hill girls’ team and the West Charlotte boys’ team.