The Charleston Battery played Rhode Island FC to a 1-1 draw on Saturday at Patriots Point. MD Myers came off the bench to score the equalizer in the second half and goalkeeper Adam Grinwis produced a PK save late to earn the Battery a point at home. It was the second draw between the Battery and Rhode Island this year after the first meeting ended in a scoreless stalemate in April.
The night had a relatively tame start, neither side was eager to give any ground early on and offensive movements were limited. Only one shot was registered in the first half-hour of play, a blocked attempt in the 4th minute by RIFC’s Clay Holstad. The Battery, meanwhile, retained roughly 67% possession in the opening 30 minutes.
Leland Archer and Robbie Crawford made a strong defensive intervention in the 28th minute, tracking back to deny Rhode Island a promising look on goal at the edge of the 18-yard box.
Charleston’s best chance came in the 43rd minute when Nick Markanich’s header was nearly tucked inside the far post. Juan David Torres set up Markanich with a sublime cross into the box.
Rhode Island managed to pull ahead in stoppage time via Noah Fuson. The visitors took the 0-1 lead into halftime despite holding only about 38% possession.
The physical nature of the match saw both teams surpass their per-match average for fouls committed before the game reached the hour mark. Rhode Island committed 15 fouls through the 49th minute and Charleston had 13 through the 50th.
Charleston began to find a footing on offense as the match neared the 60th minute. The introduction of MD Myers and Jay Chapman to the game off the bench helped provide a spark in applying pressure in the second half.
The pressure paid off in the 71st minute as the Battery were knocking on the door. Torres sent in a strong shot from the edge of the box that was saved by goalkeeper Koke Vegas. However, the rebound fell right to Myers, who shifted his way around Vegas and knocked in the equalizer.
Myers’ goal was his 17th of the season across all competitions.
Tension grew quickly as RIFC attempted to reclaim the lead moments later, but goalkeeper Adam Grinwis made a clutch save in the 74th minute on a corner kick. On the ensuing play, Grinwis played a long punt to Torres on the other half of the field. Torres attempted to chip the ball over Vegas, who was far off his line, but wasn’t able to make the best contact and Vegas tracked back in time to make the save.
In the 75th minute, Emilio Ycaza broke free and went coast to coast for a shot on goal, but his attempt was saved and the Battery’s follow-up attempts off the rebound came up empty.
Rhode Island were granted a golden opportunity to take the lead when Grinwis was called for a foul in the box on his challenge against Jack Panayotou. Grinwis, however, rose to the occasion and saved the penalty attempt taken by Fuson.
Charleston looked to apply more pressure in the eight minutes of stoppage time added, but only managed to record one shot, an off-target header by Graham Smith in the 91st minute.
Same as in the first meeting, the sides shared the points after the final whistle. The 1-1 result moved the Battery’s record to 17W-6L-10D (61pts).
Head Coach Ben Pirmann and forward MD Myers addressed the media after the match, with key quotes to follow.
Coach Pirmann on his overall assessment of the match…
It was a pretty good game. Both teams went for it. Both teams [were] aggressive. Both teams had a clear identity. Second half, it opened up. [We were] a little bit fortunate to get the rebound on the goal, but I thought we were on them in their end. The guys off the bench did a great job. Chris Allan, at left-back, stepped up. Jay and Emilio in midfield and MD scoring the goal. That’s what this has to be, it has to be every player dialed in. Doesn’t matter the minutes, but the attitude was great, the effort was great.
We have got to make sure that we’re not conceding chances in that goal, because it should have gone halftime, 0-0. But, give [Rhode Island] credit, they made a great play. In possession, I think we have got to be a little bit stronger on the ball. You’ve got to move it, you’ve got to be selfless. Our structure was good, our patterns were good. It was all about making the connection, whether that’s from building out from the back with the goalkeeper and the back line and the holding mids. We have got to be a little bit stronger on it.
To be fair, Rhode Island are very good defensive team, they’re strong, they’re aggressive. They have three very good, athletic center-backs. They make things tough and they clogged it up in the middle. They were equally as threatening in the other direction on the break. Grinwis made a great play on the penalty kick save, I’m so glad for him. We’ve got to finish the other chances, probably a fair result, 1-1 overall.
It was a great evening overall, the weather, the fans, the support has been incredible. We’ve got one more game at home. Hopefully, we get as many supporters as possible before we kick off the playoffs. We just want to keep getting better, enjoying ourselves, enjoying our football, playing for this great club, great community and great supporters, and keep giving it everything for them.
Coach Pirmann on Adam Grinwis’ penalty save…
That was great. Great for Adam, he deserves it. He’s a big-time player and he made a big-time play. I gave credit to [Fuson] in the first half, who made a nice goal. I give credit to Grinwis here for making a big play. Those are big plays. Those are playoff plays that you have to make. Kudos to him. Keep getting better on it, but fair play. Great, great, great game from Adam.
Myers on the play that led to his equalizer…
There’s a lot of bodies in the box, and I know Juan can get a good shot off, but kind of reminded me of my first goal this season against Miami, just looking for a rebound. The goalie gave it up, and I just pounced on it when I got in there. [The message from Coach Pirmann was] we needed a goal, just work hard and the chances will come, just take advantage of them.
Myers on his immediate takeaways from the game…
It was a very physical game. I thought we were controlling the first half, didn’t score, but we had some chances. We gave up the goal in the last kick of the first half, which always hurts. We go into halftime knowing we can score goals, and trying to get some confidence in there, and we come out thinking we can take over the game, create some chances, get that equalizer, and we were just unfortunate to not get the second one.
There was a lot of momentum, building a lot of momentum. I feel like the second [goal] should have come at some point. Definitely felt like there was another goal in the game. They got a PK, big save by Adam, and then we had a couple of chances late, but didn’t turn out.
Away at Pittsburgh, home against Detroit, they felt like playoff games. We’re just getting minutes in the tank, and we’re gonna be ready once the playoffs come.
Myers on the fans helping to push the team late in the night…
It’s huge, we feel [the fans] behind us the whole time. They’re active the entire time making noise and that’s big for us. It pushes us just that extra 5% and that can be the difference in any game. We definitely were better later on in the game. We have one more practice run before playoffs, so we’ll go out, get the win against Loudoun and carry some confidence and momentum into the playoffs.
Charleston’s next match will be home vs. Loudoun United FC Sat., Oct. 26, at 6 p.m. ET for the regular season finale. The Battery will then kick off the playoffs at home on Sat., Nov 2, in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals at 6:30 p.m. ET (opponent TBD). Tickets for the games are on sale now via SeatGeek.com, the club’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.
Lineups and Scoring Summary
CHS: Grinwis, Crawford, Archer (Biek, 89’), Smith, Dossantos (Chapman, 60’), Allan, Molloy, Markanich, Rodriguez (Ycaza, 68’), Torres (Saydee, 89’), Conway (Myers, 60’)
RI: Vegas, Duggan (Panayotou, 76’), Nodarse, Yao, Stoneman, Turnbull (Kwizera, 66’), Herivaux, Ybarra (Brito, 86’), Holstad, Williams, Fuson
Scoring Summary:
RI – Noah Fuson, 45 +2’
CHS – MD Myers, 71’
