Charlotte Repeats as American Men’s Soccer Champions in 2-1 Overtime Win Over FIU

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Brigham Larsen scored the game-winning goal in the final minute of the first overtime period to push the No. 3 Charlotte 49ers past the No. 5 FIU Panthers 2-1 in the 2024 American Athletic Conference Championship final, 2-1.

Charlotte (11-2-5) wins their second straight American Athletic Conference Championship and earns The American’s automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship with the win. FIU moves to 6-6-6 on the season.

It took just until the 5^th minute of the match for the Panthers to gain an advantage as Mathys Lefebvre took a deflected pass off a Charlotte defender to score the opening goal of the match.

In the final minute of the half, Charlotte’s Natsuki Ogata dribbled past a field of Panther defenders to tie the match at one heading into halftime.

As the first overtime period wound down, Charlotte’s Brigham Larsen took a through ball from Lasse Laursen to score the game-winning goal and lift the 49ers to the championship.

Charlotte’s goalkeeper Leonard Stritter finished the tournament with nine total saves and was named as the Most Outstanding Defensive Player, while Larsen was named the Most Outstanding Offensive Player.

2024 American Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Championship Schedule
First round at campus sites
Semifinals and final at home site of the No. 1 seed Memphis
(all times Eastern)

First Round – Friday, November 8
Game 1 – No. 3 Charlotte 3, No. 6 Temple 1 | Box Score | Highlights
Game 2 – No. 5 FIU 1, No. 4 Florida Atlantic 0 | Box Score | Highlights

Semifinals – Thursday, November 14
Game 3 – No. 3 Charlotte 1, No. 2 South Florida 0 | Box Score | Highlights
Game 4 – No. 5 FIU 3, No. 1 Memphis 1 | Box Score |Highlights