The Charleston Battery blasted Indy Eleven to win 5-0 on Friday at Patriots Point. Five different goalscorers in the second half contributed to the victory in a complete performance across the board. MD Myers, Emilio Ycaza, Nick Markanich, Jackson Conway and Robbie Crawford all found the back of the net. Christian Garner recorded the Battery’s 12th clean sheet of the year, adding to the club’s league-leading total.
The win propels Charleston to the top of the Eastern Conference standings heading into the rest of the weekend’s matches.
Charleston started the match on the front foot and appeared to grab the lead right from the jump. Leland Archer put the ball in the back of the net off Arturo Rodriguez’s corner kick in the 3rd minute, but the referee’s whistle blew the play dead.
Indy began to make their presence felt with the ball but the Battery defense stood firm. Nathan Dossantos defused a promising progression from the visitors in the 29th minute with a decisive interception at the top of the box, neutralizing the threat.
Goalkeeper Christian Garner, on loan from Greenville Triumph SC, made an impact in his debut at the half-hour mark with an impressive punch and save to deny Indy twice. Garner would make two saves in the first half.
The match went into the break tied nil-nil. Charleston dominated the possession battle with over 64% retained.
Charleston were on the front foot again and applied heavy pressure out of the break.
MD Myers broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute after a brilliant turn and shoot from inside the box. The play was initiated by Mark Segbers’ smart work to intercept the throw from goalkeeper, Hunter Sulte. From there, he played the ball to Markanich and Markanich assisted Myers for the first goal of the night.
The goal was Myers’ 13th across all competitions this year and the assist was Markanich’s fifth.
Charleston’s foot remained firmly on the gas pedal in search of a second goal. Emilio Ycaza doubled the Battery’s lead in the 70th minute to make the score 2-0. Ycaza was at the right place at the right time to knock the ball in after it hit off a defender and the post following Rodriguez’s corner kick.
Ycaza’s goal was his third of the season. It was also the third goal of his career against Indy, the most he’s scored against any club.
Without much delay, Markanich fired in the Battery’s third goal of the night to bring the score to 3-0 in the 78th minute. Nathan Dossantos started the movement by navigating around Indy and playing the ball to Juan David Torres, who then connected with Markanich for the goal after a slight deflection.
Markanich’s strike brings his goal tally to 20, placing him tied for the fourth-most goals in a single season in Battery history (Paul Conway, 1999). The assist was Torres’ fourth of the year.
Devin Rensing, who manned the touchline in place of Ben Pirmann due to a red card suspension, saw his substitutions make an immediate impact in the final stages of the match.
Jackson Conway, roughly two minutes after coming off the bench, tapped in the Battery’s fourth goal of the night after Prince Saydee, who entered with Conway, had his cross deflected right to Conway in the 85th minute.
The goal was Conway’s fourth of the year, all of which have come at home.
Indy thought to have pulled back a late goal via former Battery striker Augi Williams, but the referee’s flag was raised for offside to chalk it off.
Charleston were still hunting for goals in the dying moments of the match and their efforts were rewarded just before the final whistle. Josh Drack stepped up for a free kick that hit the woodwork and Robbie Crawford sent the rebound back to goal to make the score 5-0.
Crawford’s tally was his first of the year and he became the fifth different goalscorer of the night.
Charleston commanded the night in the 5-0 victory over Indy, successfully replicating the scoreline from the last time Indy visited Patriots Point, in the 2023 Playoffs. It was also the second time the Battery scored five goals in the second half of a match this year, achieving the feat on June 28 vs. North Carolina FC (5-2).
The victory elevated Charleston to the top of the Eastern Conference table, as of writing, with a record of 13W-3L-7D (46pts).
Markanich’s 20 goals already match the total of last year’s Golden Boot winner, Albert Dikwa. There are 11 games left in the Battery’s regular season.
Garner made three saves and the shutout contributed to the Battery’s 12th clean sheet of the league campaign. It was an honorable showing for the Greenville loanee who arrived in Charleston just days before the match.
Assistant coach Devin Rensing and forward Nick Markanich addressed the media after the match, with key quotes to follow.
Coach Rensing on his takeaways from tonight’s match…
It’s a warm night and we knew that if we kept moving the ball and playing the way that we want to that the gaps would get bigger in the second half. Once we got one, we were able to get two and then it kind of fell in our favor. We’re all playing for something a little bit different tonight. And it was just a special night.
We’re deep, we’re good and we’re talented, that’s important. I mean, Jackson [Conway] and Robbie [Crawford] coming off the bench, they’ve been working hard all year. Jay [Chapman] and Prince Saydee coming along, it’s great. They’ve been working hard and it’s good that they got rewarded.
Any win is a great win. For us to come back, bounce back and have a couple of days rest, it was super important. It’s getting to the time of the season where every point matters for that top spot. We’re going to be fighting for that.
Coach Rensing on the support from the fans tonight…
We always love playing here. It’s the best place to play for us. These fans are incredible. I’m just really proud of this team. Proud of this organization. It’s a special place, a special team and it’s just great to be back.
Markanich on how tonight’s bounce-back win felt…
It was an amazing feeling, we come out on a Friday night, came out strong and put five past them. We trust Devin and TD and the rest of the coaching staff, we know they’ll be fine they’re great coaches. So, we just came out as a normal game and we had a great game. Especially [in the] second half, we turned it up with more chances and we came out with 5-0 win.
Having the crowd behind us, chanting all the time over there behind the goal brought momentum for us. We put five past them, which was awesome.
We have a great team. Obviously, five different goalscorers is a great, great feeling. So, we’ve got keep it going for next week.
Last week was a great game for both teams. I know we’re a bit mad about how it ended, but I know coming into this week in training, we had a great week. We came out today and we smashed them, it was awesome.
Markanich on reaching 20 goals this season…
I mean 20 [goals] is a great feeling to have. That was actually my goal, so I already reached it but I’ll keep going more, trying to try to break the record. Hopefully I reach that by the end of the year. But, that was an awesome feeling and credit to Juan David and the rest of my teammates this year for finding me and just finishing it in the back of the net.
Charleston are back at Patriots Point next weekend to take on Memphis 901 FC on Sat., Aug. 10, a game that will be nationally televised in Spanish on TUDN. Tickets for the match are on sale now via SeatGeek.com, the club’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.
Lineups and Scoring Summary
CHS: Garner, Dossantos, Smith, Archer, Segbers (Drack, 90’+2), Allan, Rodriguez (Chapman, 70’), Ycaza, Torres (Crawford, 84’), Markanich (Saydee, 84’), Myers (Conway, 84’)
IND: Sulte, Diz (Guenzatti, 75’), O’Brien, Ofeimu, Stanley, Neidlinger, Lindley (Wootton, 75’), Mines (Quinn, 46’), A. Williams (Gibson, 79’), R. Williams, Martinez
Scoring Summary
CHS – MD Myers (Nick Markanich), 52’
CHS – Emilio Ycaza, 70’
CHS – Nick Markanich (Juan David Torres), 78’
CHS – Jackson Conway, 85’
CHS – Robbie Crawford, 90 +5’
