The Charleston Battery ran riot over Brooklyn FC in a dominant 5-0 victory in Week 22 of the USL Championship regular season at Patriots Point on Saturday. Five different players were on the scoresheet for Charleston: Wilmer Cabrera (1’), Maalique Foster (43’), Laurent Kissiedou (54’), Miguel Berry (57’), Emilio Ycaza (90’). Charleston extended their current undefeated run at home, and their undefeated streak in the regular season, the latter standing at 23 games dating back to last year. Luis Zamudio notched his fourth clean sheet in the win.
Charleston kicked off against Brooklyn amid the celebration of the 1996 USISL Pro League title-winning team at Patriots Point, aiming to harness that team’s championship energy to get back to winning ways.
The Battery opened the scoring after just 21 seconds when Wilmer Cabrera knocked in a cross from Miguel Berry to put the Battery ahead, 1-0. Maalique Foster initiated the play with a cross to Berry, who managed to reclaim possession from Brooklyn inside the box. From there, Berry sent the ball across the face of goal to Cabrera, who made an acrobatic effort to knock the ball in after beating his marker.
Cabrera’s goal at the 0:21 mark was the fastest in the league this year, the Battery’s fastest goal in their USL Championship era and is tied for the 18th-fastest goal in league history.
The tally brings Cabrera’s goal total to four on the year, and Berry’s assist total to three.
On the other end, Graham Smith made a clutch goal-line clearance in the 9th minute to deny Markus Anderson after goalkeeper Luis Zamudio was caught off his line.
Zamudio then made a pair of saves in quick succession, denying Juan Obregón both times, first a diving effort in the 10th minute, and again in the 11th minute.
Nearing the end of the half, Foster’s pressure up top began to mount and he nearly doubled the Battery’s lead twice; once in the 41st minute with an on-target attempt and again in the 43rd minute with a shot off the woodwork.
Foster finally broke through in the 43rd minute to put Charleston ahead, 2-0. Douglas Martínez whipped a ball into the box from the right to Cabrera, whose effort was saved by Lukas Burns. However, Burns’ save was spilt and the rebound fell right to Foster, who was crashing into the box and slid in to knock the ball home.
Foster’s goal was his eighth of the season, and his sixth in league play.
Charleston went into the break leading 2-0 with momentum on their side. Brooklyn had three shots on target but Zamudio saved each attempt.
Play resumed in the second half with the Battery back on the front foot.
In the 54th minute, Laurent Kissiedou struck from distance to extend Charleston’s lead to 3-0. Foster controlled the ball along the right side of the attacking third, beating two defenders before playing a pass to Kissiedou. From there, Kissiedou created space for himself in the middle and teed up a stunning strike from outside the box that tucked just inside the post.
The goal and assist were Kissiedou’s and Foster’s third of the year across all competitions, respectively.
Charleston weren’t done there, and Berry advanced the Battery’s lead to 4-0 in the 57th minute, his first goal for the club at home. Kissiedou was at the center of the play with his pressure at the top of Brooklyn’s own box, expertly winning the ball from Gabriel Alves. He then played a clever no-look pass to Berry, who needed just one touch to settle before unleashing a strike to the far post.
Berry’s goal was his fifth of 2026 across all competitions, and Kissiedou’s assist was his first.
In the 61st minute, Berry nearly added another goal on a free-kick, but his bending effort hit off the woodwork.
Sean Suber appeared to score in the 73rd minute, but the referee’s flag was raised for offside.
Both teams were reduced to 10 men in the 79th minute when Charleston’s Kissiedou and Brooklyn’s Tommy McNamara were shown red cards following a coming together on the field.
The Battery tacked on an additional goal in the 90th minute via an Emilio Ycaza header to go up 5-0. Nathan Messer provided the stellar service on a free kick and Ycaza flew in for the goal that capped off the night.
Charleston secured the 5-0 win over Brooklyn, effectively avenging their earlier loss against the New York club and snapping a four-game winless run. It also extends their undefeated run at home in the regular season to 23 matches.
The Battery’s win advances their record to 9W-6L-3D (30pts), placing them second in the Eastern Conference table.
Additionally, Charleston have now scored five goals in three games this year, adding to their league-leading total of 37 goals scored.
Goalkeeper Luis Zamudio earned his fourth shutout of the year, with four saves, one punch, one clearance and six recoveries to his name. The performance also snapped an eight-game run without a clean sheet for the Battery.
Miguel Berry, Maalique Foster and Laurent Kissiedou each notched one goal and one assist each. Additionally, Berry led the match with three chances created.
Emilio Ycaza also put together a strong two-way performance, adding a goal while leading the match with three interceptions and three tackles won (tied).
Head Coach Ben Pirmann and forward Maalique Foster addressed the media after the match, with key quotes to follow.
Coach Pirmann on his immediate takeaways from the win…
July wasn’t a good month. We wanted a good response. I thought the boys were fantastic. I think it was a deserving result. But, we need to handle those emotions a little better. But incredible effort. Scored early, kind of up and down, and then we put it to them. So, strong performance, good to get a shutout, good to respond well. Complete performance from the team and the players and the staff.
Coach Pirmann on the confidence the team can take from the performance…
I think the confidence is based upon the preparation and our ability. We’ve shown we’re able. We’ve shown we’ve got a good side. When we work hard and we stick together, we’ve shown what we can do in this league.
The quality is there. The belief is there. The preparation is there. It’s just when things are going well, it’s sticking to our principles, being tough, being together so you can fight your way through stuff when it’s not going well.
Foster on his overall thoughts after the victory…
Tonight is a great game. We’ve been training all week. It’s not about Brooklyn, it was about ourselves. That’s the main thing this week, and we really go there and perform as we should. It’s a physical game, so it’s always going to be battles and matchups. Once we have the fans, which is the 12th man, they call it, that always gives you a motivation, and you always take care of home.
Foster on his goal and assist in the match…
Well, it’s a striker instinct, just always sniffing the box, and the ball will get to you. So you have to be ready.
It is great, you know. Hopefully every week I can do a backflip, so I can score each week, and we have maybe like nine weeks to go. So, it’s great to be scoring each week, and it’s good to build onto your tally.
Charleston’s next two matches will be away, against Loudoun United FC (August 8) and Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (August 15). The Battery’s next home game will be on Sat., Aug. 22, against Miami FC. Tickets for the match are on sale now via SeatGeek.com, the club’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.
Lineups and Scoring Summary
Lineups
CHS: Zamudio, Messer, Akpunonu, Smith, Martínez (Suber, 46’), Cabrera (Blackstock, 63’), Ycaza, Kelly (Hughes, 84’), Kissiedou, Foster (Pakhomov, 70’), Berry
BKN: Burns, Alves, Romeo (Nishikawa, 73’), Latinovich (Klein, 55’), Frogson, McNamara, Okiyoshi (Mangione, 73’), Anderson, Olney Jr, Stojanovic (Stojanovic, 46’), Obregón (Servania, 55’)
Scoring Summary
CHS – Wilmer Cabrera, 1’ (Miguel Berry)
CHS – Maalique Foster, 43’
CHS – Laurent Kissiedou, 54’ (Maalique Foster)
CHS – Miguel Berry, 57’ (Laurent Kissiedou)
CHS – Emilio Ycaza, 90’ (Nathan Messer)
