CHARLESTON, SC – The match between the Charleston Battery and Orlando City B ended in a scoreless draw Saturday night at MUSC Health Stadium. The two teams created more than 30 scoring opportunities, but neither could find the back of the net.
The 0-0 draw was the second between the two teams this year, with the first coming all the way back week two of the season. All three matches against the first-year USL side were as equally as frustrating for the Battery, who only picked up two of a possible nine points against OCB this season.
Charleston created 22 of the 30 scoring chances in the match, but could not beat the gritty Orlando defense led by goalkeeper Mark Ridgers. The Battery had several chances cleared off the goal line by outfield players and Ridgers made several quality saves to preserve the lead.
“It’s definitely frustrating,” said Battery captain Shawn Ferguson after the match. “We knew coming into this match that we wanted to keep a clean sheet, especially at home, but obviously we wanted to put a few away as well. We felt like they had a defender on the line every time we put something on frame. We’ve had trouble scoring in all three matches with Orlando this season, so it is frustrating that we couldn’t finally get a result against them tonight.”
The Battery only managed to score one goal in three matches with OCB this season. Despite creating numerous opportunities in the run of play, Charleston’s lone goal from a Justin Portillo penalty kick.
Battery Head Coach Mike Anhaeuser echoed Ferguson’s frustration, saying, “It’s been so difficult against Orlando this season. We’ve created great chances in all three matches, but we can’t seem to break through. I think they cleared three or four shots off the line tonight and the goalkeeper made a couple of great saves again. He’s done fantastic against us this season. In the end, our guys were a bit tired after three games in seven days, so we’ll take the point although we would of liked to get three.”
Charleston will now turn its attention to the Nigerian Olympic team. The Battery will travel to Atlanta to take on the Nigeria U23 team at Silverbacks Park on Saturday, July 16th. Following the match in Atlanta, Charleston hits the road for two weeks for tough back-to-back road matches. The Battery will play New York Red Bulls II and FC Cincinnati, two teams above them in the table. Justin Portillo and Ricky Garbanzo picked up their fifth yellow cards in the match against OCB, meaning both will be unavailable against NYRBII.
It’ll be difficult, but it’s something that happens throughout the season,” Anhaeuser commented on the suspensions. “A couple of guys will have to step in, and they have already this season. We’ve consistently made changes to the lineup this season and players have stepped in and done well, so we’ll be ready.”
Box Score:
CHARLESTON BATTERY: Odisnel Cooper, Quinton Griffith, Taylor Mueller, Shawn Ferguson, O’Brian Woodbine, Maikel Chang, Justin Portillo (yellow card, 42nd), Ataulla Guerra (Neveal Hackshaw, 72nd), Emmanuel Adjetey (Dante Marini, 65th), Romario Williams (Ricky Garbanzo, 79th; yellow card, 89th), Chris Tsonis (Heviel Cordoves, 65th)
Unused subs: Alex Tambakis, Forrest Lasso, Andrew Carleton
Orlando City B: Mark Ridgers, Zachary Ellis-Hayden (yellow card, 5th) (Michael Ambrose, 88th), Craig Nitti, Kyle McFadden, Tyler Turner, Andrew Ribeiro, Antonio Rocha, Richmond Laryea (Johnathan Mendoza, 72nd), Lewis Neal (Alejandro Garcia, 76th), Marius Obekop (Pierre Da Silva, 45th; yellow card, 81st), Michael Cox
Unused subs: Jacob Fenalson, Antonio Matarazzo, Keegan Smith
Top image: Emmanuel Adjetey reaches for the ball at midfield. Vin Duffy Photo
