Referee: Jose Carlos Rivero Assistant Referees: Skye Arthur Banning, Jeremy Brooks Attendance: 2,707 Weather: Clear, 90
Sunday, September 6, 2009 - Charleston, SC Battery loses to Thunder Charleston, SC. The Charleston Battery fell 3-1 to the Minnesota Thunder Sunday night at a rain-soaked Blackbaud Stadium. Randi Patterson tallied the host’s only goal on the night 19 minutes into the match. Lawrence Olum netted to goals on either side of the halftime whistle and Marco Terminesi added a goal and an assist for the visitors.
“I don’t think the score was necessarily indicative of the game we played tonight,” said Battery head coach Mike Anhaeuser. “About the only thing we were lacking tonight was the fight to get the goal back once we went down a goal.”
After controlling the first 20 minutes of the match, Patterson put the Battery in the lead finishing a Frankie Sanfilippo cross. The goal came as the rust of steady buildup by the Battery midfield. Sanfilippo snuck up the right flank and was given ample time to get his cross into the six-yard box off. Patterson out-jumped his market, heading the ball back across the goalmouth to the near post. A defender did manage to get a piece of the ball before it sailed over the line but it was not enough to keep the ball out of the net.
The goal was Patterson’s team-leading ninth goal on the season.
Newly acquired goalkeeper Chris McClellan earned his first start since joining the club from USL-2 side Wilmington. His first test as a Battery player came on the 42nd minute when he bravely dove at the feet of Rod Dyachenko to win the ball inside the six-yard box.
Three minutes later Minnesota struck, pulling the match level moments before the halftime whistle. Olum netted the goal on a diving header after Kevin Friedland headed a Ricardo Sanchez corner kick played beyond the far post into the heart of the goal box.
The visitors maintained the momentum after the intermission, taking the lead two minutes into the second half. Again it was Olum, this time with his feet, beating one defender before connecting with Terminesi at the top of the penalty area, slotting the ball past a diving McClellan.
Late in the match, with numbers going forward for the equalizer, the Thunder was able to counter, putting the game out of reach. Nathan Knox found room outside of the Battery penalty area and found a streaking Terminesi on the left side.
With the loss the Battery move to 12-5-10 (46 points) remaining in third place in the league standings.
The Battery’s home finale is Friday. Kickoff is at 8:00 p.m. Fireworks immediately follow the match. For ticket information call 843-971-GOAL or go to www.charlestonbattery.com.
AT&T Real Yellow Pages Defensive Player of the game: Frankie Sanfilippo.
Scoring Summary
Goal (Assist)
Minute
Charleston Battery
Patterson (Sanfilippo)
19
Minnesota Thunder
Olum (Friedland)
45
Minnesota Thunder
Olum (Terminesi)
48
Minnesota Thunder
Terminesi
90
Team Summary
Charleston Battery
Players
Chris McClellan, John Wilson, Nelson Akwari, Matt Bobo, Frankie Sanfilippo, Chris Williams (Tyler Hemming 81), Scott Buete, Kenji Treschuk (Jamie Franks 62), Tsuyoshi Yoshitake, Randi Patterson, Darren Spicer (Dan Antoniuk 69)
Players Not Used - Keith Wiggans, Nigel Marples, Yeniel Bermudez, OBrian Woodbine
