The Charleston Battery played MLS club Atlanta United to a 0-0 draw before falling 4-5 in a penalty shootout in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 at Patriots Point on Tuesday. Charleston held their own well against Atlanta but fall short of advancing to the quarterfinals.
Charleston started the match on the front foot, eager to set the tone against the MLS visitors. MD Myers and Nick Markanich both nearly broke open the game in the 21st and 24th minutes, respectively. Myers’ shot was a close-range attempt that was saved and Markanich’s was an opportunistic shot that went just over the crossbar.
Goalkeeper Daniel Kuzemka, making his second start of the year, was tested once in the first half, making a save in the 18th minute.
Neither side could find a way through the first 45 minutes. The Battery outshot Atlanta by a margin of 10 to four and possession was an even 50% apiece.
The second half commenced with a cagey start in the opening stages. There wasn’t a shot on target recorded until Atlanta’s Nick Firmino forced a save by Kuzemka in the 67th minute.
Charleston made appeals for a handball in the box in the 79th minute when Markanich’s shot appeared to catch an Atlanta defender on the arm, but no penalty was given. Juan David Torres sent in a strong shot on frame in the 82nd minute that was saved.
Despite the Battery attempting three shots in stoppage time, the 0-0 deadlock couldn’t be broken after 90 minutes and the match was sent to extra time.
Torres nearly scored the game’s first goal in the 92nd minute. The Battery were awarded a free kick and Torres’ shot hit off the wall and spun to the far post, rocking the woodwork before going out of bounds.
The first period of extra time ended scoreless. Charleston attempted three shots to Atlanta’s zero.
Atlanta came out of the gate looking for a breakthrough and immediately sent numbers forward against the Battery defense. However, Firmino’s shot went off target.
Charleston had two of the night’s best chances in the 114th and 115th minutes. Some solid hold-up play by MD Myers opened a promising look on goal for Robbie Crawford, whose shot was blocked. A minute later, Aaron Molloy played a perfect through ball to Myers, but the striker’s attempt went over the crossbar.
The game moved to penalty kicks to decide it after going 0-0 after 120 minutes.
In penalties, Atlanta shot first but were stopped by a save from Kuzemka against Brooks Lennon. From there, the Battery’s Arturo Rodriguez, Jackson Conway, MD Myers and Graham Smith converted their attempts. Atlanta made their subsequent shots going into the Battery’s fifth shot. Diego Gutierrez’s well-placed strike to the bottom left corner was saved by goalkeeper Josh Cohen. The ensuing penalty by Atlanta was converted and Molloy’s was saved, ending the match 4-5 in PKs after a 0-0 draw.
The shootout defeat ended Charleston’s run in the U.S. Open Cup. It was Charleston’s first advance to the Round of 16 since 2013.
Head Coach Ben Pirmann and goalkeeper Daniel Kuzemka addressed the media after the match, with key quotes to follow.
Coach Pirmann on his assessment of the team’s performance against Atlanta…
I’m proud. I thought our performance throughout the 120 minutes was fantastic. We were really on top of [Atlanta] in the first half. They changed the game and I thought we revamped our game up. We had two or three chances at the end of regulation and a couple more in overtime.
The performance was fantastic. I’m so proud of the players. I’m so proud of the players. So proud of them, the courage they had, the fearlessness. When I took this job 18 months ago, it’s moments like these where you want to just outwork your opponent. It wasn’t just hustle and bustle of playing for second balls, we moved the ball well. We pressed them when we could.
[Atlanta are] a massive club, a well-coached team. I’m just disappointed we didn’t advance, but that’s the nature of the Cup. If we play like that a lot more, we will continue to do good things. We had a massive massive crowd tonight. I wish we could have scored, but I think we also have a lot to be proud of.
Coach Pirmann on his message to the squad after the game…
We pride ourselves on the attitude and the effort, that was 10 out of 10 tonight. I just feel for the boys, it takes courage to step up and take penalties. Right now everybody’s feeling so negative and sad. That’s normal, sad is a good emotion to feel after after not getting our way. We can’t control the result. We represented the Black and Yellow with class tonight.
Kuzemka on his immediate takeaways from the match…
I’m so proud of the guys. The MLS came here and all of us strive to be at that level. We’re at that level and we proved it tonight. We went to the very last kick against a top MLS team. I couldn’t have had my performance without them. I’m blessed to be with this group and I’m really proud of us.
[Playing against an MLS team] will boost our confidence when we’re playing teams in the USL Championship. We went to PKs with a top team and they had a lot of first team players here. We should use this as a springboard and as Friday comes around. Let’s get back to ourselves. It’s a short turnaround, so we’ve got to recover over the next few days, we’re back here at Patriots Point on Friday.
Kuzemka on switching gears to playing at home again on Friday…
It’s a lot of recovery [after] 120 minutes and a pretty humid night. We were running around, pressing, and being ourselves. We weren’t sitting back just because they are an MLS team. We were playing our identity of soccer. We have to hit restore, stretch, sleep well, hydrate, and eat.
The turnout tonight was unbelievable. You could hear it, you could feel it [and] it felt unreal. This is the atmosphere we need at Patriots Point, every game. It makes us want to run 5 times harder and play for these fans in this community.
The Battery are back home on Fri., May 24 to face El Paso Locomotive FC on Military Appreciation Night. Tickets for the game are on sale now via SeatGeek.com, the club’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.
Lineups:
CHS: Kuzemka, Dossantos (Drack, 119’), Smith, Archer, Segbers (Conway, 119’), Allan (Crawford, 109’), Molloy, Torres (Gutierrez, 109’), Ycaza (Rodriguez, 74’), Markanich (LaCava, 87’), Myers
ATL: Cohen, Hernández, Abram (Gregersen, 86’), Morales, Edwards (Carleton, 100’), McCarty (Torres, 76’), Firmino, Mosquera, Gordon, Brennan (Lennon, 86’), Thiaré (Rios, 64’)
Penalty Kick Summary (CHS 4 – 5 ATL):
ATL – Brooks Lennon (Missed)
CHS – Arturo Rodriguez
ATL – Daniel Rios
CHS – Jackson Conway
ATL – Bartosz Slisz
CHS – MD Myers
ATL – Ronald Hernández
CHS – Graham Smith
ATL – Nicolas Firmino
CHS – Diego Gutierrez (Missed)
ATL – Stian Gregersen
CHS – Aaron Molloy (Missed)
