The Charleston Battery played Detroit City FC to a dramatic 2-2 on Saturday in a packed house at Patriots Point. The afternoon was dominated by defense in the first half, but the offenses delivered all four goals in the second half. Nick Markanich scored his 28th goal of the year, setting the new club record for most in a season across all competitions, and Juan David Torres fired in a goal for the second consecutive match, but a late Detroit equalizer saw the points shared.
It was a cagey start to the day in a match between two of the league’s best defenses. While Charleston made more advances early on, neither side recorded a shot in the opening 15 minutes.
Emilio Ycaza and Leland Archer made a crucial intervention in the Battery’s defensive third when Detroit appeared to be threatening in the 19th minute, both tracked back to dispossess Abdoulaye Diop and thwarted the attack.
Arturo Rodriguez had the only shot on target of the first half between either team, a 27th-minute attempt from inside the box that forced goalkeeper Nathan Steinwascher to come off his line for the save.
Charleston and Detroit went into halftime scoreless. The Battery held roughly 62% possession in the opening stanza.
The visitors managed to strike first shortly after play resumed for the second half via Stephen Carroll in the 49th minute.
The complexion of the match quickly changed, however, as Detroit’s Connor Rutz was shown a straight red card. Detroit were reduced to 10 men for virtually the remainder of the second half.
Charleston quickly applied heavy pressure on Detroit with the one-man advantage while down 0-1.
Juan David Torres produced an opportunity for the Battery to level the score when he drew a foul inside the box in the 70th minute, awarding Charleston a penalty.
Nick Markanich stepped up to the spot and buried the goal in the 73rd minute, tying the game at 1-1.
It was a historic moment as Markanich scored his 28th goal of the season, officially breaking the club’s all-time record for most goals scored in a single season (all competitions). He broke the tie with Paul Conway’s mark of 27 set in 2001, two years after Markanich was born. The goal also adds to Markanich’s existing league record for most goals in a single Championship season.
Charleston continued to attack Detroit with momentum on their side.
It was not before too long when Torres again delivered for the Battery, this time scoring a goal of his own in the 84th minute. Torres initiated the play and attempted to run a give-and-go with Jackson Conway inside the box. Conway’s pass back to Torres was deflected, but the ball still fell favorably for the Colombian to strike the ball to the far post and beat Steinwascher.
The goal was Torres’ sixth of the season.
In stoppage time, Detroit managed to pull level with a strike from distance and off the post by Laurent Kissiedou, bringing the score to 2-2.
Charleston pushed for a third goal in the dying embers of the match but saw their efforts come up empty. Leland Archer nearly won it with a header off a corner kick in the 102nd minute, essentially the last touch of the match, but his attempt hit off the post and the final whistle blew.
The Battery and Detroit shared the points in the end, a 2-2 result after a physical and gritty afternoon at Patriots Point.
Saturday’s draw moves the Battery’s record to 17W-5L-9D (60pts). It was the Battery’s 18th point won from a losing position, no team has recovered more, as of writing.
With 28 goals, Nick Markanich is firmly in first as the top goalscorer across all American domestic leagues this year.
Head Coach Ben Pirmann and forward Nick Markanich addressed the media after the match, with key quotes to follow.
Coach Pirmann on his main takeaways from the game…
The game went almost exactly how we planned. At halftime, we were very comfortable moving the ball, hadn’t been opened up in transition. Our possession was good. It was 62% in the first half. We knew it wouldn’t be an up-and-down game, and we knew it was going to take a restart or something special to open them up and create high-level chances. But, we also knew that we had 90 minutes to do it.
It was really disappointing to give the restart away at the start of the second half. We knew they’re good on the restarts, and we prepared for it all week. That’s disappointing at the end to to concede. We got to make sure we lock that up and not allow it.
I was very proud of our group for managing their emotions well, playing hard, playing with fight. A good team punished us. But in the end of it, it was two good teams fighting, and it was good advert for the league.
Proud of the performance, good night, just a little bit disappointed with dropping the two points, but that’s football.
Coach Pirmann on Nick Markanich breaking the Battery’s goal record…
Nick has been tremendous all season, whether it’s a penalty, whether it’s arriving in the box, whether it’s a distance shot. Teams target him and he still produces. What he’s done this year is incredible. I know it’s because of what we do as a team, but you got to take your hat off to him. He’s been incredible and what he’s done is tremendous.
I know he says it’s because of our team and the coaching staff and our club and the community, but he still has to execute it. I don’t care who scores the goals, as long as we’re scoring them, but I’m proud for him. He’s done very well this season. That’s probably an understatement. He deserves everything, all the recognition, he’s been receiving.
Coach Pirmann on the support from the fans this afternoon…
As always, our supporters are tremendous. I say it each week, we can feel them, we go with them, they go with us, they push us. They got us back into the game, they got us the lead and we need to do a better job of holding on, but our supporters are tremendous. This club, this community, does a fantastic job. It’s not just history, it’s passion. There’s a sincere togetherness between our club and our community and that’s what this is all about. On a night like tonight, where we raise awareness and raise money for breast cancer, such an important afternoon, our fans are top. I’m proud to be a part of it, proud of the performance.
Markanich on his overall assessment of the match….
We knew coming in it was going to be a physical game. We came out and we were all over in the first half, [we had] the majority of the possession and we just had to put away a couple of our chances. They scored first, and we came back and drew a penalty and then we got another one. Unluckily, they scored at the end of regular time. It was unfortunate that we didn’t come out with three points.
Markanich on breaking the club record for most goals in a single season….
It feels really good to put my name in history books for this awesome club. It feels really good. Whatever happened, happened, but I’m happy to break records. It’s always awesome, but it would feel a lot better if we got the win, but still something to be accomplished and happy for.
Markanich on preparing for the rest of the season and playoffs….
Every game is pretty much a playoff game. They’re fighting for a top seed as well as the playoffs, so maybe we’ll see them again in the playoffs, maybe not. But, they’re a good team. You got to keep fighting like it’s a playoff spot.
Every game is going to be hard from now on, so we just got to keep fighting and come back next week at training and start again, and get ready for Pittsburgh, and so on. Then be ready for a first playoff game.
Charleston’s next match will be away vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC on Sat., Oct. 12. The Battery return home on Sat., Oct 19, to host Rhode Island FC at Patriots Point. Tickets for the game are on sale now via SeatGeek.com, the club’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.
Lineups and Scoring Summary
Lineups:
CHS: Grinwis, Dossantos (Drack, 65’), Smith, Archer, Segbers, Allan (Chapman, 65’), Ycaza (Molloy, 46’), Rodriguez (Saydee, 90 +1’), Torres, Markanich, Myers (Conway, 74’)
DET: Steinwascher, Villanueva (Williams, 90 +9’), Amoo-Mensah, Carroll, Bryant, Diop (Kissiedou, 88’), Murphy (Amoh, 46’), Rodriguez, Rutz, Williams, Morris (Cedeno, 80’)
Scoring Summary:
DET – Stephen Carroll (Alex Villanueva), 49’
CHS – Nick Markanich, 73’
CHS – Juan David Torres, 84’
DET – Laurent Kissiedou (Elvis Amoh), 90 +3’
