What You Need to Know: Charlotte Independence v Charleston Battery

The Battery take to the pitch in the Queen City Saturday as they face Charlotte Independence at 7:00 PM EST. It’s been 344 days since the Battery last saw their northern rivals in a Southern Derby match that finished tied, 0-0. It’s the second of four matches outside of Group H, but an ever-important matchup as the Black and Yellow look to further secure their second place standing in the group.

Building on the momentum of Mauro Cichero’s stoppage-time equalizer in the closing seconds of Wednesday’s 1-1 draw at Atlanta, the Battery will face a Charlotte side that looks to have a happy homecoming in their first home match of the season.

The Jacks dropped their first points of the season on Wednesday night in a 4-1 loss at the hands of Birmingham Legion FC. Charlotte traded chances with Legion FC through much of the first half with Independence forwards Dane Kelly and Enzo Martinez creating opportunities, but were outmatched and struggled to pressure inside the Birmingham box. Martinez converted a PK late in the second half for the Jack’s only goal in the game.

The Battery will look to secure three points against an experienced, yet still meshing Charlotte side. The majority of the Jack’s roster are new signings for the season, however there are still some familiar faces and threats in the lineup.

Ones to Watch This Week

Dane kelly

A familiar face to Coach Mike Anhaeuser’s squad, the former Battery forward is one of five goal scorers on the Charlotte side and team leader with 9 shots for the season. Kelly has shown through three matches his ability to create opportunities up front and with his lone goal on the year occurring back in March, he’ll be itching to get one in the net against Charleston.

enzo martinez

In his second season with the Independence, Martinez is no stranger to the Battery either. The last time they met in 2019, Martinez created the most threatening chance of the August 30 draw, connecting with midfielder Valentin Sabella for a shot that was tipped away by Charleston keeper Joe Kuzminksy. Second only to Kelly in shots for the Charlotte side, he’ll look to put pressure on the Battery back line.

leland archer

Leland has been solid in all five starts this year, providing stability to the Battery back line and in most cases, leaving keeper Phil Breno with not much to do. Winning an incredible 70% of all duels he’s faced, he has proven to keep threats out of the box and get the ball back down the field.

Zeiko Lewis

Zeiko should have some fresh legs for Saturday’s match having come off the bench in the 73rd minute of Wednesday’s draw against Atlanta. Looking to get back into the starting lineup against Charlotte, the team leader in shots and goals will plan to cause trouble for the Jack’s back line.

From the Training Ground

With a very short stint between games, the boys took Thursday off and hit the training pitch again on Friday to loosen up before boarding the buses for Charlotte.

Building on the closing seconds in Atlanta, Coach Mike Anhaesur noted, “for momentum, it’s pretty easy. You had 15, 20 seconds left in the game. That’s fresh in our minds, fresh in Mauro’s mind. It was a fantastic finish and not easy to do in those situations when the pressure’s on you.”

Looking ahead to Charlotte, he added, “It’s their first home game and they’re going to have a lot of confidence. They’re not going to worry about their last game, they’re going to come out. They’ve got some potent attacking players, Martinez, Dane Kelly we know very well. They’ve got a lot of experience around the pitch for their team. We’ve got to be prepared and we’ve got to make sure we’re ready to go with guys out there that can take the game to Charlotte.”

As of posting, Nico Rittmeyer and Jesus Ibarra are listed as unavailable for Saturday’s match.