The Charleston Battery battled to a 1-1 draw on the road against Sacramento Republic FC at Heart Health Park on Saturday. AJ Paterson struck first with a goal in the first half, assisted by Fidel Barajas, to break open the game. Republic FC, however, would level the score in the second half and neither side managed to take the lead despite the high intensity on the pitch.
After a contentious start to the match with Sacramento on the front foot, it was the Battery who scored first. Fidel Barajas connected with AJ Paterson in the 22nd minute following a rebound from a set piece, and Paterson headed home the opening tally. The goal and assist were the first of the season for Paterson and Barajas, respectively.
The hosts were reduced to 10 men for the rest of the night when Luis Felipe was shown his second yellow card of the game in the 36th minute. Republic FC held the majority of possession in the first half but the Battery took the 0-1 lead into the break.
The Battery started the second half with rhythm early on and nearly doubled their lead in the opening minutes. Sacramento, however, leveled the score in the 55th minute via Jack Gurr with a close-range shot off a deflected cross.
Both sides continued to search for a second goal with intensity. Emilio Ycaza and Derek Dodson both tested goalkeeper Danny Vitiello, however neither could break through. Nick Markanich, Augi Williams and Tristan Trager led the charge up top in the waning minutes of the match but were unable to find the back of the net.
The 1-1 score held to the final whistle and the points were shared, marking the second consecutive draw for the Battery to start the 2023 season.
Head Coach Ben Pirmann and defender AJ Paterson discussed the match after its conclusion, with key quotes to follow.
Coach Pirmann on the squad handling the road environment tonight…
I’m proud of their effort, two matches in a row where we were up for the fight. I think these players play for each other, they play for the badge, they have courage and they’re not afraid of the moment. We matched the intensity and even went up and above. They play for each other and that’s what it’s about.
Coach Pirmann on the room for improvement…
It’s two games now that we’ve dropped points from winning positions and dropped four points with very good performances. I told the team that we need to make sure that that’s not the trend. We can’t control wins, losses or ties, but we can control our behaviors, we can control our execution. Just have to get a little bit more efficient around the goal and then have the confidence to make the passes that are needed. Then when we’re out of possession, make sure we’re just always sticking to the game plan. But, again, overall I’m very proud of this group. I told them I’ll go to battle with them all season long.
Coach Pirmann on the team continuing to develop in the early stages of the season…
The big picture is, in our game model and in possession, we have to continue to be thorough. We had a play where Tristan slid it down to Deklan and Deklan crossed it to the back post, but we missed the glorious chance and that could have been the difference tonight. So, I don’t know if it’s necessarily tactics or it’s just continuing to improve the game model, continuing to improve the timing and getting to know our partnerships.
Paterson on his main takeaways from the match…
I think we’re disappointed not to take all three points and not to capitalize on the early red card. We showed heart, the result wasn’t for a lack of effort and we had our chances. In possession, we were much more structured than in our previous game, which was good. As a team that wants to push and win a lot of games this year, however, this draw almost feels like a loss to us. But, we’re going to take the point, we’re going to grow and we’re going to learn from it.
Paterson the play that led to his goal…
Emilio Ycaza whipped in the first ball and it was a great one, Leland [Archer] and I both went up for it but barely missed. Fidel did great to just send the ball back into a dangerous area real quick before Sacramento could get structured again. Fortunately, I was in the right spot at the right time and then headed it in.
Paterson on the defensive unit coming together…
Similar to the game against Phoenix, we were very structurally sound. Again, it comes down to that one opportunity where they break us and end up scoring a goal. We want to try tightening the screws as we move forward and really lock down this defense so we can start getting shutouts which will turn into wins.
It’s been a very smooth transition with all the new guys; a lot of great footballers and a lot of great people. So, it’s been very nice to work with all these guys and I’m very excited to see how well we can do as the season progresses.
The Battery return home for their next home match on Sat., March 25, against the Tampa Bay Rowdies at Patriots Point. Tickets are available now via SeatGeek.com, the Battery’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.
Scoring Summary
CHS – 22nd minute, AJ Paterson (Fidel Barajas)
SAC – 55th minute, Jack Gurr (Russell Cicerone)
Lineups:
SAC: Lopez (LaGrassa, 85’); Herrera (Archimede, 73’); Cicerone (Lewis, 88’); Viader; Fernandes; Gurr (Gontan, 85’); Timmer; Donovan; Weidt; Vitiello
CHS: Muse; Wynne; Paterson; Archer; Dodson; Allan; Booth (Polvara, 53’); Ycaza (Crawford, 85’); Barajas (Trager, 74’); Williams; Markanich
