Miami goalkeeper Pat Hannigan blocks Luke Vercollone's second half shot
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Match Summary
Half 1
Half 2
OT 1
OT 2
Final
Charleston Battery
1
1
0
0
2
Miami FC Blues
0
0
0
0
0
Referee: Lee Suckle Assistant Referees: Roni Canales, Carlos Arango Attendance: 3,596 Weather: Clear 70 Blackbaud Player of the Game: Gordon Chin
Saturday, May 12, 2007 - Charleston, SC Battery defeats Miami FC
CHARLESTON, SC—The Battery came into tonight’s game with Miami F.C. at Blackbaud Stadium in serious need of three points. That’s exactly what they got with the 2-0 win Saturday night, the Battery’s first of the 2007 season.
Stephen Armstrong found the back of the net from close range in the 29th minute and Byron Alvarez clinched the victory in the 85th minute. The win was Battery goalkeeper Dusty Hudock’s second clean sheet of the season.
Both teams came out looking to attack early on, but neither could seem to find the right combination in the final third of the field until the Battery’s Michael Todd ran onto a long ball sent into the corner. Todd beat a player and sent a low cross to the feet of Gordon Chin inside the six-yard box. Chin’s shot hit square off Miami goalkeeper Pat Hannigan and fell to Armstrong who slammed the ball into the net from three yards away. It was Armstrong’s second goal of the year.
Following Armstrong’s goal both teams struggled to sustain an attack. It was not until the 39th minute that Hudock was called to action, making a spectacular diving save to his right, parrying a Sean Cameron 30-yard blast to safety.
Halftime substitute Aaron King nearly doubled the score in the 53rd minute on a side-volley from 12 yards out could only slam the ball off Hannigan. The rebound took Alavarez by surprise and he could do nothing but put the ball into Hannigan’s hands again, this time safely.
In the last half-hour Miami began stepping up the pressure. The Battery back line bent but did not break. In the 70th minute Miami’s Sean Fraser narrowly missed from 20 yards out after a breakdown in the Battery defense. Six minutes later Brandon Curran’s perfectly timed sliding tackle on Douglas inside the penalty kept him from going one-on-one with Hudock off a perfectly weighted ball from Brazilian veteran Zinho, who at 40, ran the Miami midfield for the entire match.
Alvarez atoned for his earlier miss by putting the game away for good in the 85th minute. Alvarez controlled a Gordon Chin cross from the right flank with one touch and coolly slotting home a right-footed shot from sixteen yards out to put away the game. Alvarez celebrated his first strike of the season with his new team by joining the fans in section E10 in the stands.
The Battery (1-1-2) travel to Cary, North Carolina next Saturday to face the expansion Carolina Railhawks (0-1-3) at 7:30 p.m., and return home May 26 versus rivals Atlanta.
Scoring Summary
Goal (Assist)
Minute
Charleston Battery
Armstrong
29
Charleston Battery
Alvarez (Chin)
85
Team Summary
Charleston Battery
Players
Dusty Hudock, Chris Corcoran, Tim Karalexis, Brandon Curran, Lee Sandwina, Luke Vercollone, Lazo Alavanja, Gordon Chin, Stephen Armstrong (Armando Romero 82), Michael Todd (Aaron King 45), Byron Alvarez
Players Not Used - Keith Wiggans, Chris Gores, Ian Bennett, Mike Richardson, Jeremy Gold
