CHARLOTTE, N.C (Monday, November 2, 2026)- Charlotte FC defender Henry Kessler and goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina were named to the MLS team of the Matchday for Matchday 34 following the Club's 4-0 victory over Orlando City SC this past weekend. This marks Kessler's first time earning the weekly honors since joining the Club while Kahlina picks up the 10th of his career.
The Crown capitalized off their momentum from Wednesday’s 4-0 win over CF Montréal to take down Orlando on Saturday afternoon, posting back-to-back 4-0 victories just three days apart. Charlotte FC currently sits fifth in the Eastern Conference standings with an opportunity to claim fourth place before the regular season concludes. Charlotte will need to beat Miami and Chicago lose or draw against Columbus Crew for The Crown to finish in the top four.
Kahlina continued to demonstrate his dominance at Bank of America Stadium, recording consecutive clean sheets in Charlotte's last two matches at home. He finished Saturday's match with seven saves, including two diving saves and six saves inside the box. Kahlina leads MLS in goals saved (157) and raised his MLS clean sheet total to 44.
Just six minutes into the match, Kessler set the tone with a header off a free kick whipped in by captain Ashley Westwood, guiding the ball over the line to start Saturday afternoon's goal fest.
Kessler has played the full 90 minutes in 17-straight MLS regular season matches and 19 of the last 20 matches since the World Cup break. In Saturday's victory, Kessler finished with a 97% passing accuracy (57/59), and 75% duels won on the night (3/4), per FotMob. He leads the MLS in blocks per 90 minutes, averaging 1.8, having totaled 31 blocks in only 17 matches.
The Crown will travel down to Miami, Florida for Decision Day to face off against Inter Miami CF this Saturday, November 7. Kickoff from Nu Stadium is set for 4:00 ET and the match will be broadcast on Apple TV and simulcasted on Tubi.
See Below for the Full team of the Matchday:
F: Robert Lewandowski (CHI), Brian White (VAN), Vincent Janssen (POR)
M: Ryan Gauld (VAN), Joaquín Pereyra (MIN), Marco Reus (LA), Lionel Messi (MIA)
D: Henry Kessler (CLT), Sean Zawadzki (CLB), Benji Kikanović (SJ)
GK: Kristijan Kahlina (CLT)
Coach: B.J. Callaghan (NSH)
Bench: Pablo Sisniega (SD), Mathías Laborda (VAN), Harbor Miller (LA), Cherrion Valerius (MIN), Dylan Chambost (CLB), Miguel Almirón (ATL), David Da Costa (POR), Cristian Espinoza (NSH), Jonathan Bamba (CHI)
