CHARLESTON, SC – The Charleston Battery scored early and hung on for a draw against the Charlotte Independence Wednesday night at MUSC Health Stadium.
Coming off of its toughest stretch of games this season, Charleston started its first home match in over two weeks on the front foot. The Battery had Charlotte under constant pressure for the first ten minutes and jumped out to an early lead.
Romario Williams scored his team-high ninth goal of the season in the eighth minute to open the scoring. Maikel Chang started the move, slicing through the heart of Charlotte’s midfield and driving at the back four. The back-to-back Team of the Week honoree slotted a through ball into Williams’ path who calmly finished first-time under goalkeeper John Berner. The assist was Chang’s third in as many games and fifth of the season.
Charleston kept the pressure on Charlotte after a dream start in the comfort of its home stadium through the opening 25 minutes, but then the tide began to turn. The Independence got on the ball a bit more in the latter stages of the first half, forcing the Battery to recede into its own half, but couldn’t find an equalizer.
“We took our foot off the pedal a bit. We scored a great opening goal then started to do things a little differently and move away from what was successful in the early part of the match,” said Battery Head Coach Mike Anhaeuser. “You have to give them credit, they moved the ball on us. They passed it really well and got us back on our heels a little bit. They didn’t create that many chances in the first half, but they wore us down and it took its toll over the course of the game.”
Charlotte continued to turn the screw after the halftime break, playing the majority of the second 45 minutes in the Battery’s end of the field. The breakthrough finally came in the 65th minute when Enzo Martinez played a ball across the penalty area that bounced kindly for Caleb Calvert. The Colorado Rapids loanee smashed the riquochet into the net, leveling the score at one.
A heavy-legged Battery team struggled to keep possession as the match wound down and goalkeeper Odisnel Cooper made several big saves to preserve a point. The match was the Cuban goalkeeper’s first start since the Battery’s 0-0 draw with Orlando City B on July 13th.
Cooper and Charleston’s back four defended well down the stretch to lead the Battery through its eighth straight match without a loss. Charleston will enjoy much-needed ten day break before returning home to play FC Montreal on August 13th.
“In the end, coming off of the road stretch we had, we’ll take the point,” Anhaeuser said of the result. “Charlotte didn’t gain any ground on us in the table. Of course we want to get three points here at home and we want to attack, but the way the game was going forced us to play a little more defensive. We’ll take our break now and try to recover.”
Box Score:
CHARLESTON BATTERY: Odisnel Cooper, O’Brian Woodbine (yellow card, 48th), Forrest Lasso, Shawn Ferguson, Quinton Griffith, Maikel Chang, Justin Portillo, Neveal Hackshaw (Zach Prince, 67th), Emmanuel Adjetey (Dante Marini, 67th), Romario Williams (goal, 8th) (Chris Tsonis, 64th), Heviel Cordoves (Ataulla Guerra, 59th)
Unused subs: Alex Tambakis, Jeffery Otoo, Ricky Garbanzo
CHARLOTTE INDEPENDENCE: John Berner, Kevin Bilal Duckett, Patrick Slogic, Joel Johnson, Henry Kalungi (yellow card, 28th), Jun Davidson (yellow card, 58th), Lewis Hilton (Jorge Herrera, 45th), Enzo Martinez (Paul Clowes, 75th), Zach Pfeffer (Brian Brown, 45th) , Caleb Calvert (goal, 65th) (Jack Metcalf, 85th), David Estrada (Alex Martinez, 60th, yellow card, 86th)
Unused subs: Cody Mizell, Austin Yearwood
