The Charleston Battery played Monterey Bay FC to a 0-0 draw at Cardinale Stadium on Wednesday. Charleston created the majority of scoring opportunities throughout the match but were unable to find the back of the net. The Battery’s Daniel Kuzemka recorded four saves en route to his second clean sheet of the year.
Two promising chances for the Battery came in the 7th minute with Arturo Rodriguez and Nick Markanich. Rodriguez had a one-on-one against goalkeeper Antony Siaha, whose save was redirected back to goal by Markanich, but the follow-up shot was cleared off the line.
Charleston dominated much of the early proceedings and held over 70% of possession through the first 15 minutes.
Goalkeeper Daniel Kuzemka was tested on the other end near the half-hour mark. Kuzemka denied Michael Gonzalez in the 27th minute from a short range and came up big again with a save against Gonzalez in the 33rd minute.
The Battery thought to have scored the opener in the 43rd minute when MD Myers headed the ball toward goal that was blocked off the line by Morey Doner. Appeals for a handball were made for Doner’s block, which appeared to go off his outstretched arm, but no call was given.
Monterey Bay and Charleston went into the break scoreless. The Battery out-shot the hosts, 11 to three.
The second half was off to a more tame start compared to the first 45 minutes. Only one shot on target was recorded through the 75th minute, taken by Juan David Torres (64’).
Kuzemka had a relatively tame shift in the second half as Monterey Bay were held to zero shots on target and sent six shots off target.
Charleston’s last big chance for a match-winner came via Torres’ shot in the 92nd minute, which forced a decisive save from Siaha.
The Battery and Monterey would share the points in the 0-0 draw.
Charleston’s record moves to 8W-1L-4D (28pts) as the Black and Yellow remain atop the Eastern Conference standings.
Kuzemka’s shutout marks his second of the year as he set a new season-high for saves (four).
Head Coach Ben Pirmann and defender Nathan Dossantos discussed the match after the final whistle, with key quotes to follow.
Coach Pirmann on his immediate takeaways from the match…
We were just okay, I thought we were flying in the first 20 minutes and then just didn’t improve enough at a quick enough rate to keep pushing them back. We needed to be more dominant with continuing to create chances and we let our foot off the gas a little bit. Then, Monterey got a couple of little half chances and a big chance that Daniel Kuzemka made a great save.
We had a lot of meaningful territory but we didn’t have enough meaningful moments in the final third, but, big picture, we played a solid game. Daniel made the saves that we needed him to. We needed to finish some of the chances we created. Overall, I don’t think we did quite enough to deserve all three points.
Coach Pirmann on the difficulties faced during the night…
There are a lot of things, from coaching to individual performances to an opponent that played with aggression and courage at home. I think that we got a little bit sloppy on the ball and we got a little bit tired. We didn’t quite do enough to tilt the game in our favor. Anytime you do that, you just kind of leave it up for 50-50 moments. The possession was dominant, the territory was dominant, the key moments were dominant, but I don’t think we quite did enough to tilt it our way even though we had two big chances at the end of the game.
Coach Pirmann on Daniel Kuzemka’s performance and progress…
I’m proud of Daniel, that was his third game in a row with Adam being out. He’s played 300 minutes in the past two weeks and only conceded two goals. So, I’m very proud of him as an individual. Sometimes backup goalkeepers don’t always get a chance, and he’s taken his chance and done well. Monterey Bay had two big opportunities to score that he made saves on and I was proud for him to make sure we kept the shutout.
Dossantos on his assessment of the game…
It’s always difficult going across the country, especially a three-game week and long travel coming out here. One positive is getting the clean sheet. Overall, with this week, we could have taken a lot more. I felt that, as a group, we could have taken more in the game, especially how well we started in the first 20 minutes, and could have finished a couple of our chances.
Dossantos on what has been working well with the defensive unit…
The back four, in general, whoever’s going in those spots, does a good job. Especially in the middle, with Graham Smith and Leland Archer, they have a lot of experience and a lot of leadership. When Adam Grinwis is in there as well, he has a lot of experience in that spine of the defense. Then on the outside, Mark Segbers, myself, Josh Drack, and Robbie Crawford are guys who have played a lot of games in this league, so that unit as a whole I feel has a good balance and definitely a lot of quality. It just comes down to our principles and kind of the way we set up and how we train each week for the opponent. It’s always good to get a clean sheet.
Daniel made some massive plays. He was really brave coming off his line and had some big plays for us that kept us in it and kept a clean sheet. I think Adam’s been kind of the same, he’s been super brave and that showed in the Birmingham game.
Dossantos on the pause in the action before the Pittsburgh game next week…
The break comes at a good time for us because we played a lot of games early and jumped out with our schedule, in terms of having most games played and leading the pack. So, a good time for us to reset, recharge and come into this next portion of the season with fresh legs. I think we put these games behind us and focus on the only game that matters right now, which is Pittsburgh, 10 days from now.
The Battery’s next match is on Sat., June 8, against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC at Patriots Point. Tickets for the home game are on sale now via SeatGeek.com, the club’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.
Lineups Summary
CHS: Kuzemka, Dossantos, Smith, Archer, Segbers, Ycaza (Conway, 79’), Molloy, Rodriguez (Crawford, 69’), Torres, Markanich, Myers
MB: Siaha, Doner, Greene, Guzman, Robinson, Baca, Dixon, Guerrero (Rebollar, 55’), Fehr, Martinez (Enrique, 78’), Gonzalez
