The Charleston Battery played North Carolina FC to a 0-0 draw at WakeMed Park on Saturday to open the 2024 USL Championship season. The Battery commanded much of the game and held North Carolina without a shot on target, but neither side could find a winner before the final whistle. It was the first meeting between the sides since 2020. Charleston had nine players make their debut for the club.
The first half of the 2024 season saw both teams uninterested in giving any meaningful ground early on. Charleston’s defense was tested early, however, Leland Archer and Mark Segbers each made clinical interventions with sliding stops through the initial 20 minutes.
Much of the Battery’s offensive advances came via the right side with Mark Segbers and Jake LaCava but the NCFC defense held firm. Nick Markanich nearly scored the opener in the 33rd minute after a good through ball by Segbers, forcing goalkeeper Jake McGuire into a decisive save.
Charleston and North Carolina went into the half tied at 0-0. The Battery held a firm majority of possession at just over 70%.
The second half began with much of the same intensity as the initial 45 minutes. Neither side could find a foothold through the hour-mark.
Head Coach Ben Pirmann looked to tilt the run of the game with substitutions, which saw Juan David Torres, Diego Gutierrez, Jackson Conway, and Nathan Dossantos make their Battery debuts at various points in the second half.
The Battery’s defense continued to remove threats from the hosts and would hold North Carolina without a shot on target all match, the first time since 2019 that NCFC didn’t have a shot on target in a league match.
Charleston came close to grabbing a late winner with a shot by Torres in the 89th minute from the edge of the box. Torres’ curling effort went just over the crossbar.
After six minutes of stoppage time, the Battery and North Carolina shared the points in the 0-0 draw. The result means the winner of the Southern Derby will be determined in the reverse fixture at Patriots Point on June 28.
Battery goalkeeper Adam Grinwis logged his first clean sheet of the season, a commendable club debut for the shot-stopper.
Midfielder Aaron Molloy, also making his Battery debut, led the match in chances created (three), duels won (eight), and successful dribbles (two, tied).
Defenders Graham Smith and Josh Drack and forward Jake LaCava also made their Battery debuts on Saturday.
Head Coach Ben Pirmann and defender Graham Smith discussed the result after the final whistle, with key quotes to follow.
Coach Pirmann on his takeaways from the first match of the year…
It was a very typical first game of the season. North Carolina, they have a winning pedigree from last year but they also have a lot of high-level quality players and John [Bradford] does a good job coaching them.
We hadn’t necessarily felt a team as defensively strong as [North Carolina] all preseason. Throw in the fact that it’s the first game, the nerves and the jitters, on the road, fields quick, strong opponent [who are] good defensively. We weren’t as sharp in the final third. We dominated the game, but they were comfortable in their own right. They were just as likely to win.
Coach Pirmann on capitalizing on the chances created…
With that much possession, that many final third touches and gaining entries in and around the penalty area, you want to create some more clear-cut chances. With that being said, Nick [Markanich] and Juan David [Torres] had three or four good [chances] that we didn’t capitalize on or just weren’t quite sharp enough. That’s okay.
It’s frustrating because you want to win every single game, but the attitude, the effort were phenomenal. We won our duels, we won the second balls. I don’t think we really gave up a chance in the match, being on the road against a good team. That’s a massive positive.
You feel like you left some points there, but we definitely didn’t do enough to fully earn it. A lot of room for improvement. If we keep getting better and go through the process of improvement, we can win some games.
Coach Pirmann on the traveling support tonight in Cary…
It was brilliant. La Bara, The Regiment, I could hear them the whole game. The boys wanted to push for them. It was tremendous, that’s why we do it. It was a good way to kick off the season. We’ll keep pushing and hopefully we can get three points next weekend in Oakland.
Smith on his assessment of the performance in the draw…
We spent 55 days in preseason really working on our identity and one of the main things we were focusing on was attitude and effort. I think we displayed that tonight. I’m happy to come away with a clean sheet. I think that with the quality we have and the attacking players we have, the goals will start to come. It was a really hard-fought match tonight and a clean sheet is good.
Everyone [on defense] has very high-level communication, so it makes it easy. Everyone’s very dialed in for the whole time. We worked really well as a unit and I think we did pretty well tonight.
Smith on what the strong support on the road means to the team…
Yeah, that’s invaluable to us. As the game goes on, especially early in the year when our fitness maybe isn’t where it will be later in the year, they give us that extra push. Seeing them after the game is, is great. It really, really drives us forward. Thank you for the support. Really, it means so much and gives us an extra boost to see how much you guys care, traveling all the way here.
The Battery’s road tour to start the year continues with an away match against Oakland Roots SC on March 16. Charleston return to Patriots Point the following weekend for the home opener on March 23 against New Mexico United. Tickets for the home opener are on sale now via SeatGeek.com, the club’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.
Lineups:
CHS: Grinwis, Archer (Palma, 57’), Segbers, Drack (Dossantos, 82’), Allan, Molloy, LaCava (Torres, 46’), Ycaza (Gutierrez, 66’), Rodriguez (Conway, 82’), Markanich, Smith
NC: McGuire, Stanley, Craig, Ofeimu, Telfer, Sorto (Repetto, 79’), Cabral, Akinyode, Valot, Rivas, Murphy (Salazar, 71’)
