The Charleston Battery demolished Orange County SC by a score of 6-0 on Saturday at Patriots Point. The night was highlighted by Nick Markanich’s hat trick and MD Myers’ brace off the bench, along with a goal from Arturo Rodriguez before halftime. Both teams picked up red cards during the night. The Battery’s victory was an important bounce-back performance as they fight to regain ground in the Players’ Shield (regular season title) race.
Charleston’s night got off to an ideal start as their early pressure forced Orange County into a catastrophic error. Juan David Torres played a perfect cross into the box to a charging Nick Markanich, and Markanich was brought down in the box by OCSC’s Ryan Doghman in the 5th minute. Doghman was shown a straight red card for the last-man foul, reducing the visitors to 10 men for effectively the entire match.
Markanich stepped up and converted from the penalty spot to give the Battery a 1-0 lead in the 7th minute. The goal was his 22nd of the year.
Orange County were not without their moments and attempted to level the score despite being down a man. Mark Segbers stopped a promising counterattack opportunity for the hosts in the 13th minute, tracking back to neutralize the threat.
The Battery’s pressure continued to intensify as the half wore on. Jackson Conway almost scored in the 31st minute with a big chance that went off the crossbar. Torres sent in a powerful shot minutes later that forced a spectacular save by goalkeeper Colin Shutler.
Charleston doubled their lead in the 39th minute when Arturo Rodriguez struck from outside the box. The Mexican midfielder was at the right spot to redirect OCSC’s half-clearance back toward goal and did so with a perfect first-time hit. Rodriguez’s shot tucked into the near post to make the score 2-0 heading into halftime.
The goal was Rodriguez’s second of the season.
Charleston took the 2-0 lead into halftime after a dominant first 45 minutes.
The Battery picked up where they left off as play resumed in the second half and quickly added to their lead.
Markanich delivered a sensational goal in the 48th minute to make the score 3-0. Torres played the initial ball into the box off the free kick, which then found its way to Markanich in the middle of the box. From there, Markanich struck the ball off the volley with a scissor kick to the top corner.
The goal was Markanich’s second of the night and brought his season total to 23.
Charleston’s momentum was dealt a temporary halt when Mark Segbers was shown a straight red card in the 62nd minute for a foul during an Orange County free kick. The match would play out with both sides having 10 men on the field.
Head Coach Ben Pirmann went to his bench shortly after the hour mark as reinforcements came in to solidify the three points. His changes would prove to make an immediate impact.
MD Myers and Robbie Crawford came off the bench to combine for the Battery’s fourth goal of the evening in the 72nd minute. Myers’ initial look on goal inside the box was disrupted, but Crawford took possession and created a new opportunity before playing the ball back to Myers, who knocked it in to make the lead 4-0.
The goal was Myers’ 15th of the year and the assist was Crawford’s second.
Markanich scored his second hat trick of the year just moments later to make the score 5-0 in the 75th minute. Emilio Ycaza, who recently entered the game, received a long ball from Leland Archer and led a charge into the box. Ycaza expertly played the ball back against the grain to Markanich inside the box, who then took a few touches before firing the ball to the top of the net.
Markanich’s hat trick brought his goal total to 24 this year, inching him closer to the USL Championship single-season record of 25 goals and the Battery’s all-time single-season record of 27 goals. Ycaza’s assist was his third of the season. Additionally, Markanich surpassed Paul Young for the most goals in a single Battery regular season (excluding playoffs and cup matches), breaking Young’s mark of 23 in the 1995 USISL Pro season.
The Battery put the game to firmly to bed in the 89th minute when Myers scored the sixth goal of the night. It was a deserved reward for Myers, who kept the play alive with a clever backheel pass to Torres at the edge of the box. Torres then played Myers forward and Myers overcame Shutler’s slide tackle attempt and poked the ball into the net from a tough angle before going out of bounds.
The goal was Myers’ 16th of the season and the assist was Torres’ sixth.
Charleston’s 6-0 victory over Orange County was their second such result of the year after beating Las Vegas Lights FC back in April by the same scoreline. It was also the fourth time the Battery scored at least five goals in a match in 2024, they achieved that feat only once in 2023. Charleston’s +33 goal differential is the best in the league, as of writing.
The Battery also dominated possession with roughly 65% retained over the course of the whole match.
The win advances the Battery’s record to 15W-4L-7D (52pts), just one point out of first place in the Eastern Conference standings. Charleston’s impressive home record moves to 10W-1L-1D in league play.
Markanich and Myers recorded their fifth and fourth multi-goal goal games of the year, respectively.
Goalkeeper Adam Grinwis has another relatively easy day at the office, tallying one save for his ninth clean sheet of the season. The Battery lead the league with 13 shutouts this year.
The victory was also notable as it came on the 28th anniversary of the Battery’s 1996 USISL Pro title, the club’s first of four league championships.
Head Coach Ben Pirmann and forward Nick Markanich addressed the media after the match, with key quotes to follow.
Coach Pirmann on his takeaways from tonight’s performance…
It was a good performance. Things are tilted when they get the early sending-off, but we kept at it. We kept selfless with our movements and our passing. And then Arturo [Rodriguez] got a great goal. We’ve been working on the underneath players arriving to the edge of the box. That was excellent, he took it so well, that’s why he’s in there. So, I was proud for him, he deserved that.
Then the second half, when we go [up] three, the red card evened it up and things opened up. Good performance, especially after last week, we wanted a good psychological mentality. The emotions were good, the spirits were good, our togetherness was good. Obviously, we want to do it for our supporters and it felt good doing that for them.
Coach Pirmann on bouncing back from the Louisville result…
Last week had so much on the line Louisville took it to us and our boys were incredible this week in training. The mentality, win, lose or draw, you have to just put it behind. You move on to the next one. Last week happened just like this week happened, and now San Antonio is on the clock. We’ve got eight games left, so we got 720 minutes of regular season football left to try to win as many games as we can and try to get into the playoffs and go from there.
Markanich on scoring a hat trick tonight…
It’s amazing, the season I’m having. It’s all credit to my teammates setting me up as always. I wouldn’t be scoring these goals without them. Ben [Pirmann] is a great, great guy, and an even better coach. I think hearing those words from him and the coaching staff is awesome.
Yeah, [I was thinking] just keep going, have no mercy, and keep scoring as much as I can. I’m happy to get three goals. Credit to Juan David, playing that ball for that PK. And Emilio, that second goal coming right to me from just a second ball. I’m happy.
Markanich on having one of the largest home crowds of the season tonight…
We definitely hear the fans all game long, so having them with us is also another advantage for us, because we play our best with them. I think we’re just really comfortable here. We’re happy to play here. It’s a great stadium, great, great pitch. We have great fans too. Playing here is a great opportunity and we take advantage of it.
Charleston’s next match will be away vs. San Antonio FC on Sat., Aug. 31. The Battery return home on Sat., Sept. 12, to host Sacramento Republic FC for Kick Childhood Cancer Night at Patriots Point. Tickets for the game are on sale now via SeatGeek.com, the club’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.
Lineups and Scoring Summary
Lineups:
CHS: Grinwis, Segbers, Archer (Biek, 82’), Smith, Dossantos (Drack, 78’), Chapman, Allan (Ycaza, 66’), Markanich (Saydee, 78’), Rodriguez (Crawford, 66’), Torres, Conway (Myers, 66’)
OC: Shutler, Doghman, Fox (Chaves, 58’), Nakkim, Lambe (Miles, 58’), Powers, Jamison, Hegardt (Zubak, 58’), Norris (Sorto, 76’), Flood (Guimaraes, 78’), Dunbar (Casiple, 58’)
Scoring Summary:
CHS – Nick Markanich, 7’
CHS – Arturo Rodriguez, 39’
CHS – Nick Markanich, 48’
CHS – MD Myers (Robbie Crawford), 72’
CHS – Nick Markanich (Emilio Ycaza), 75’
CHS – MD Myers (Juan David Torres), 89’
