The Charleston Battery played Oakland Roots SC to a hard-fought 1-1 draw at Pioneer Stadium on Saturday. Nick Markanich scored the Battery’s first goal of the season in the first half and an equalizer from Oakland forced the points to be shared. The Charleston attack was lively, with 21 shots recorded, but was unable to find a late breakthrough goal.
Charleston started the game on the front foot, recording five shots, including two from inside the box, in the opening 25 minutes. Despite not scoring, the Battery continued to apply heavy pressure to the hosts.
Nick Markanich broke the game open in the 35th minute with his and the Battery’s first goal of 2024. Arturo Rodriguez delivered an inviting cross into the box that Markanich headed home, placed perfectly to beat goalkeeper Paul Blanchette.
Markanich’s goal brings his Battery tally to 14 since joining the club in 2023.
Charleston maintained their dominance through the end of the half, taking a 0-1 lead into the break. The Battery out-shot Oakland nine to two and held almost 60% of possession.
The Battery came out of the break applying similar pressure as the first 45 minutes of play. Oakland, however, managed to equalize in the 49th minute via Ilya Alekseev.
Ben Pirmann made his first swap in the 59th minute, bringing Juan David Torres and MD Myers into the mix. The introduction of Myers marked his official debut for the Battery.
Charleston stayed steadfast in their high press in search of a breakthrough goal. Chris Allan came close with a strike off the volley in the 65th minute and Myers with a shot in the 73rd minute, but both were saved.
Both sides teams for a go-ahead goal in the dying moments of the match yet neither could find a way through. The points were ultimately shared in a 1-1 draw.
The Battery’s attack had the lion’s share of shots, with 21 to Oakland’s six. Charleston additionally held roughly 67% of possession throughout the whole match.
Head Coach Ben Pirmann and defender Mark Segbers discussed the result after the final whistle, with key quotes to follow.
Coach Pirmann on the team’s chance creation tonight…
We were definitely better than the first match in creating the chances. I didn’t think we conceded much at all, which is a very good recipe to win football matches, but I didn’t think our mentality was strong enough. I didn’t think we did enough to see the game out, you can’t concede straight after halftime.
When you have the ball that much and you create that many more chances than your opponent, you have to find ways to win, especially on the road. It’s a tough place, against a good team, but we’re getting better. It’s two points after two weeks on the road, we’ve been quite dominant in a lot of the phases, but we have to figure out ways to get all three points next time.
Coach Pirmann on adjustments to make ahead of the March 23 home opener…
I think we need to be a little bit more fluid. There has to be an intent when we break a line, there’s got to be a purpose. We’re going around teams really well. We’re keeping the ball. We’re getting numbers in the box. We just want to control what we can control, which is moving the ball well, creating more chances and finishing them, and then preventing attacks and stopping our opponents. We know we’ll have a really tough New Mexico game up next but we have to travel, rest up, get healthy and then prepare for that game.
Segbers on his immediate takeaways from tonight…
I’d say there’s a little bit of frustration. We controlled large parts of the game and created some good opportunities to get a win, so we felt like we left some points on the board. We can’t really dwell on it and have to shift our focus to our home match against New Mexico.
Segbers on the growth he’s seen in the squad from Week 1 to Week 2…
I think it’s all about mentality and continuing to try to build chemistry, knowing when guys want the ball, when to be selfless and when to be selfish, just the little decision-making things that will come as we continue to play with each other. I think continuing to be daring, continuing to take risks, and being positive in the final third will get us over that hump.
You can tell that this group is not ever going to give up. The fight, the togetherness and the effort were there. It’s always good to see that. Whenever you put on a good fight and you’re up for the better, you always get a chance to win. It’s good to see that continue into the second match.
Charleston return to Patriots Point next weekend for the home opener on Sat., March 23, against New Mexico United. Tickets for the game are on sale now via SeatGeek.com, the Battery’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.
Lineups:
CHS: Grinwis, Dossantos (Drack, 70’) (Crawford, 90’ +2), Smith, Palma, Allan (Ycaza, 70’), Molloy, Segbers, Rodriguez, Gutierrez (Torres, 59’), Markanich, Conway (Myers, 59’)
OAK: Blanchette, Tamacas (Cruz, 45’), Logue, Rasmussen, Alekseev, Matsoso (Chéry, 12’), Hackshaw, Diaz, Gomez, Cedeńo, Rodriguez
Scoring Summary:
CHS: Markanich, 35’ (Rodriguez) 0-1
OAK: Alekseev, 49’ (Diaz) 1-1
