TAMPA, Fla. – The Charlotte Independence’s Rey Ortiz has claimed the Championship Fans’ Choice Goal of the Month award for August as his outstanding strike against North Carolina FC on August 26 earned 83 percent of the ballot that concluded on Monday lunchtime.

In a key game in the race to the USL Championship Playoffs, Ortiz made the difference for the Independence against their in-state rival. After Dane Kelly controlled possession in the left corner of the attacking third, he crossed to the top of the penalty area where Ortiz controlled with his first touch and then fired across his body with his second, sending the ball into the bottom-left corner of the net.

Ortiz’s goal proved the difference in a 1-0 win for Charlotte, which after this weekend’s results in the Championship now sits eight points ahead of NCFC in second place in the Group G standings.