The Charleston Battery clawed back to earn a point in a 2-2 draw against Orange County SC on Saturday at Championship Soccer Stadium. After a spirited, but scoreless, first half, the hosts pulled ahead to a 2-0 lead through the 76th minute. However, a conversion from the penalty spot by MD Myers and a goal by Rubio Rubín in the final minutes of the match leveled the score at 2-2 to force the draw.
Saturday kicked off with Charleston unbeaten against the Western Conference, and Orange County winless against the Eastern Conference.
It was a relatively cagey start to the night. Only three shots were recorded through the first 20 minutes, all by the Battery; an attempt by MD Myers that went adrift in the 2nd minute, and a pair of blocked strikes by Juan David Torres and Aaron Molloy in the 6th minute.
Tempers began to boil over around the half-hour mark as the intensity of the match ramped up. Five yellow cards would be issued in the first half, three to Charleston and two to Orange County.
In stoppage time, Houssou Landry connected with Cal Jennings, who was making a run into the box, for the first shot on target of the night, but Jennings’ attempt on the run was saved by goalkeeper Colin Shutler.
The match went into halftime scoreless, 0-0. Charleston recorded eight shots while Orange County failed to register any shots.
Play resumed for the second half with all still to play for on either side.
Pedro Guimaraes attempted Orange County’s first shot of the match in the 49th minute, drawing a clutch block by Langston Blackstock, who then cleared the ball away while on the ground.
Orange County managed to open the scoring in the 63rd minute via Ethan Zubak to take a 1-0 lead.
Charleston were eager to respond after incurring the 1-0 deficit. Myers, Jennings and Blackstock registered shots on targets in the minutes that shortly followed Zubak’s goal, but Shutler saved each shot.
The hosts were granted an opportunity to double their lead in the 75th minute when Bryce Jamison won a foul in the box, conceded by Houssou. Zubak converted from the spot a minute later to make the score 2-0.
Charleston remained resolute in their efforts to find a way back into the match despite the 2-0 scoreline.
A noteworthy moment occurred in the 82nd minute when Wesley Leggett checked into the match off the bench to help provide a spark on offense, officially marking Leggett’s Battery debut after joining the club earlier in the month.
The Battery’s sustained pressure paid off in the 83rd minute when Myers was brought down in the box by Ashton Miles to win a penalty. Myers then stepped up to the spot and converted the penalty a minute later, cutting the score to 1-2 and giving Charleston some late momentum.
The goal was Myers’ 13th of the league campaign, and his 17th of the year, tied for most on the team with Jennings.
Charleston continued to press forward with less than 10 minutes, plus stoppage time, remaining in the match.
The Battery did not have to wait long to level the score, as Rubio Rubín headed home the equalizer in the 86th minute to make it 2-2. In the set-piece play, Aaron Molloy delivered a sublime free kick from just outside of the 18-yard box, and Rubín perfectly timed his run to the edge of the six-yard box for the goal.
Rubín’s goal was his fourth of the season, scoring after entering the game off the bench in the 64th minute. Molloy’s assist was his fourth of the year across all competitions.
Charleston were reduced to 10 men in the 98th minute when Torres was shown a straight red card.
The points were shared in the end as the match finished at 2-2.
With the result, the Battery’s record moves to 17W-5L-4D (55pts), placing them second in the Eastern Conference. It also extends Charleston’s unbeaten run against Western Conference sides to five games.
After scoring his 13th league goal, MD Myers moved into a tie for second in the USL Championship Golden Boot race, three behind teammate Cal Jennings.
Juan David Torres led the game with six chances created, along with four duels won and five recoveries.
Aaron Molloy totaled the most accurate passes in the match, in addition to tallying three duels won, three recoveries, two chances created and one assist.
The pairing of Joey Akpunonu and Leland Archer co-led the game in clearances with six apiece.
Head Coach Ben Pirmann and midfielder Aaron Molloy discussed the match after the final whistle, with key quotes to follow.
Coach Pirmann on his immediate takeaways from the game…
It’s a tough one to assess. We played a great game, and then you’re disappointed with the final result, the final outcome, and how everything played out. But if you just step back and look at the performance, we were dominant. We played great football, we got after them. I think we outshot them eight to zero in the first half. On the road, there’s not much more you can do besides finish the attack.
There were a couple of sloppy moments, we warned against it, but to go down like that was tough. The response was tremendous, not just from the guys that came on, but mentally, to keep pushing. I thought we could’ve had more than the two goals, another penalty, a few other things here and there.
At the end of the day, it’s a strange game. You dominate them in pretty much every phase, but a couple of big mistakes happen. The group showed good character. It’s a tough two points to drop, but right now it’s about getting better, having good focus. I thought the performance, attitude, effort and football we played were tremendous. But there’s definitely a lot to learn from this game as we move toward the playoffs.
Coach Pirmann on how the emotions of the night played a role in the match…
It wasn’t a positive for us, if we’re being honest. That’s a game where you outshoot them eight to zero and have over 70% possession in the first half. You’re only one half-chance away, one moment away and if you keep doing that for 45 minutes, you usually win.
But they kind of baited us into some things. We dealt with it last week in El Paso, and we lost it this week. That’s a massive area where we need to grow, managing emotions. That gave Orange County a little bit of life. We absolutely dominated them from start to finish, but a good team with a very good coach is going to take their moments. We need to manage our emotions better and funnel them into the positive, outwork our opponent. We’ve just got to keep pushing and maintain things a little better.
Coach Pirmann on the resilience of the team to come back from down 2-0…
It’s a strong group, mentally, technically, talent-wise. On the road, they announced during the game that it was a shutout streak, they’re fighting for playoffs, and they’re a good, well-coached team. For us to come right back, push on them, and get those two goals was great. Good resiliency, very, very good resiliency.
For me, though, whether it’s a couple of mistakes, a call not going our way, or just little moments, we’ve come up short. And it just seems like that’s happened a little too much this season.
You can’t be disappointed with the attitude and effort of the group. We can be disappointed with not managing frustrations better with a couple of players. But overall, the effort was fantastic, the resiliency was fantastic, the football was great. Now we’ve just got to find a way to turn that into three points.
Molloy on his assessment of the match…
It’s disappointing to be dropping points. I thought we played pretty well, stuck to the game plan, had most of the ball, and created lots of chances in the first half. But, we found ourselves 2-0 down. All credit to the character of the team to come back, it’s not easy to do that on the West Coast. Kudos to the lads.
Tensions flare in games like this. We’re all professional athletes, all desperate to win. Emotions can run high when you’ve got two good teams going at it. Hard tackles, calls going your way or not going your way, it happens in every game. I think it’s just all part of football.
Molloy on connecting with Rubín for the equalizer…
I stood over the ball and saw their line sitting pretty deep. My initial thought process was just beat the first man, get it on target, and hopefully one of our lads gets a flick, or great if nobody touches it and it goes straight in. But, Rubio was in a great spot, got a little flick, and scored a great goal.
Charleston’s next match will be home vs. Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC on Sat., Oct. 11. Tickets for Breast Cancer Awareness Night at Patriots Point are on sale now via SeatGeek.com, the club’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.
Lineups and Scoring Summary
Lineups
OC: Shutler, Doghman, Latinovich, Miles, Guimaraes, Hegardt (Kone, 90+1’), Pinto (Partida, 82’), Kelly, Benalcazar, Zubak (Trager, 78’), Jamison (War, 77’)
CHS: Zamudio, Blackstock (Segbers, 77’), Akpunonu, Archer (Smith, 82’), Martínez, Rodríguez (Rubín, 64’), Houssou (Ycaza, 77’), Molloy, Torres, Myers, Jennings (Leggett, 82’)
Scoring Summary
OC – Ethan Zubak, 63’ (Bryce Jamison)
OC – Ethan Zubak, 76’
CHS – MD Myers, 84’
CHS – Rubio Rubín, 86’ (Aaron Molloy)
