Charleston
The Battery is looking for their first win in three matches Wednesday night in Pittsburgh. Charleston fell to 0-2-1 in their last three games Saturday night after dropping a 2-0 result to the Tampa Bay Rowdies at Al Lang Stadium. Saturday’s loss dropped the Battery’s overall record to 10-4-5 (3-3-2 on the road) and tightened the race at the top of the table. The Charlotte Independence and louisville City FC are now both just three points behind the Battery with two games in hand.
After scoring at least one goal in each of their first 17 USL matches, the Battery have been shutout it back to back games. Without leading goal-scorer Romario Williams, Charleston lost 1-0 to Saint Louis FC and 2-0 to Tampa Bay Rowdies in consecutive weeks. Williams will play in the Gold Cup final against the United States Wednesday night, meaning he will miss his fourth and final USL match.
Charleston will need to find goals elsewhere in order to stop the skid Wednesday night. Ataulla Guerra and Jarad van Schaik are working back from injury and could be available versus the Riverhounds. Atlanta United’s Lagos Kunga, Miles Robinson, and Alex Tambakis will all make the trip to Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh
The Riverhounds return home to face the Battery Wednesday night after playing three consecutive matches on the road. Pittsburgh drew all three road matches, the most recent being a 0-0 draw in Rochester. Like the Battery, the Riverhounds are searching for a positive result after hitting a streak of bad form.
Pittsburgh’s last win came on June 22nd against the Tampa Bay Rowdies at Highmark Stadium. In their four matches since, the Riverhounds have been shutout twice.
Pittsburgh have been beaten five times in their nine home games this season, while only losing twice on the road. The Riverhounds have struggled to score at Highmark Stadium, only finding the back of the net ten times in nine matches.
Previous Meeting
The Riverhounds handed the Battery their only loss at home this season back in week three. Corey Hertzog’s 91st minute goal helped Pittsburgh steal three points at MUSC Health Stadium after Marshall Hollingsworth cancelled out Ataulla Guerra’s early opening goal.
