The Charleston Battery defeated the Tampa Bay Rowdies 1-2 on Wednesday thanks to a last-minute goal from Augi Williams at Al Lang Stadium. The Rowdies grabbed an early lead due to a Battery own goal in the first half, but Williams scored twice in the second half to win it for the visitors.
Charleston now sit atop the Eastern Conference table and remain the lone undefeated team in the conference. The Battery extended their win streak to three in league competition and have swept the series with Tampa Bay.
Play began at Al Lang Stadium amid gusty wind conditions that made its presence felt early on. The Battery had the majority of early chances but were unable to convert, with Nick Markanich and Dante Polvara registering close shots in the first 15 minutes.
Misfortune struck Charleston in the 26th minute when Tampa Bay got on the board via a Battery own goal. Leland Archer played the ball back to goalkeeper Trey Muse but the windy conditions took ahold of the pass and it ricocheted off Muse before curling into the net. Muse was attributed the own goal.
The hosts took the 1-0 advantage into the break despite having the minority of chances in the first half.
The second half kicked off with the Battery eager to level the score. Charleston found their equalizer via Augi Williams, his fourth consecutive match with a goal, assisted by Tristan Trager. The play was built out of the back and was a complete team effort from the right side of the field to the left. Williams then slotted the ball between the legs of goalkeeper Connor Sparrow and into the net.
Both sides continued to press aggressively for the winning goal in the remaining time in the second half.
Tampa Bay’s ambitions for a winner in stoppage time would prove to be their undoing. The hosts were pressing into the Battery’s defensive third when Charleston sprang a fatal counterattack when Sparrow caught was far off his line. Arturo Rodriguez found Williams with a through ball and the striker took a shot from roughly 40 yards out that rolled into the net, sealing the victory for the Battery and silencing the crowd at Al Lang Stadium.
The win was the third consecutive for the Battery in league play, and fourth across all competitions.
Wednesday night was a notable one for Archer and Muse, who made their 100th league regular season appearance and 250th regular season save, respectively, during the game.
After the victory, Head Coach Ben Pirmann and forward Augi Williams gave their verdicts on the evening, with key quotes to follow.
Coach Pirmann on the team’s resilience to come back in the second half…
Two very good teams performed aggressively and went for three points. We had a crazy goal against and we showed great spirit and great fight. It was an incredible evening. A season sweep against probably the best team in the Eastern Conference is not anything to look down upon. So, I’m proud of the boys.
The biggest thing for this club and our community is continuing to push on. We want to play with integrity and heart. We want our supporters to be able to feel it and I think the last two matches, they’ve felt it. We’re honored to put on that crest. We’re honored to wear these jerseys. I think that everybody else can feel that as well.
Coach Pirmann on the offensive production recently…
I use the term ‘everybody eats’. If we’re playing good football, it will be Markanich one game, and Trager, and then Aidan, and then Fidel. Augi, he’s the point of the attack. If we’re doing things the right way, then he’ll finish him off and other guys will get assists. He said to me after the game, he said ‘I didn’t want one point, I wanted three’. So, he put the dagger in [Tampa Bay], I was so proud of him.
Coach Pirmann with a message to the supporters back in Charleston…
That one is for our supporters. I know this is a rivalry. I know maybe some things in the past weren’t as good as we wanted them to be, and we shot ourselves in the foot with a silly own goal, but that happens. The tilt was in our favor on the road against a top team, so that one was for our supporters. We said we want them to feel it with us non-stop and hopefully they felt that one as well.
Williams on how it felt to pick up three points…
This is a great atmosphere, one of the best teams in the league, so to come here and earn all three points, it’s a great feeling for us. We came to get three points. Obviously, it didn’t go our way at first, but we came back with the mentality. I’m proud of the boys and the way we earned all three points.
Williams on the mentality heading into the second half…
Obviously, it was a challenge. We knew we were going against the wind. There were so many things that were a factor, that played a role, so when we scored that goal against ourselves, it hurt to go down. But, we were sticking together and saw the momentum to come back. The way we grinded for the three points, it was an amazing feeling. That [first goal] kept us in the game and gave us the momentum to be able to come back and win.
Williams on being at the top of the Eastern Conference table…
That’s the best of life. That’s football. When we have guys, like Ben [Pirmann], you want to run through a wall for guys like that. He motivates us, tells us to keep going and to believe in ourselves. We stick together as a team, so everything is coming together and we’re happy.
The Battery travel to Tulsa for an away match this weekend, before returning home on Sat., April 22, for a match against Louisville City FC. That game will be followed by a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match on Tues., April 25, and a regular season match on Sat., April 29th, both at Patriots Point. Tickets are available for all three matches via SeatGeek.com, the Battery’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.
Scoring Summary
CHS – 26’ Own Goal (Trey Muse)
CHS – 50’ Augi Williams (Tristan Trager)
CHS – 90’ +4 Augi Williams (Arturo Rodríguez)
Lineups:
CHS: Muse, Wynne, Paterson, Archer, Allan, Polvara (Crawford, 90′), Barajas (Apodaca, 89’), Dodson, Williams (Cochran, 90′), Markanich, Trager (Rodríguez, 76′)
TBR: Sparrow, Doherty, Kleemann, Guillen, Antley, Hilton, Ekra (Dennis, 65’), Dalgaard, Martinez, Jennings (Mkosana, 85’), Schröter (Harris, 65’)
