Charleston
The Battery broke their winless skid against the Rochester Rhinos last weekend at Capelli Sport Stadium. Justin Portillo’s late free kick goal lifted Charleston to their first win in eight games and first in Rochester since 2012. Portillo’s goal was his sixth of the year, making him second on the team in scoring behind league-leader Romario Williams.
Coming off of a Team of the Week performance, look for Portillo to continue his good form this Saturday against the Kickers. The New Orleans native has scored three goals and tallied two assists in his last six matches versus Richmond.
Charleston play Richmond twice in the final eight games of the season and will need to take a full six points if they want to keep pace at the top of the table. Louisville City and Charlotte Independence are tied on points at the top of the table, three points ahead of the Battery. LouCity is in first place on goal differential and have two games in hand on Charleston and Charlotte. The top three teams will all play each other at least once in the final eight games of the season.
Richmond
Richmond won their fourth game of the season last weekend, beating Toronto FC II, 2-1, at City Stadium. Each team scored in the opening five minutes of the match and remained tied at one until Matthew Bolduc’s 68th minute game-winner. The win lifted Richmond off of the bottom of the table and into fourteenth place.
If the Kickers have any hope of securing a top-eight finish and a spot in the playoffs, they’ll have to take full points from almost all of their last eight games. Richmond have picked up all four of their wins this season at City Stadium, leading to a 4-6-3 record at home. The Kickers have struggled offensively both at home and on the road and have been shutout in 14 of their 24 matches.
Previous Meetings
Justin Portillo’s 26th minute penalty lifted the Battery to a 1-0 win over Richmond at MUSC Health Stadium earlier this season. Odisnel Cooper earned the shutout in goal.
Scoring summary: Justin Portillo (26’)
Richmond haven’t beaten the Battery since the 2014 USL Playoffs. The Battery have a 5-0-3 record and a +8 goal differential against the Kickers since September 13, 2014.
Game Notes
Records
- Charleston: 11-5-8; goals 41; goals against 26; GD +15
- Home: 7-1-5; goals 27 ; goals against 12 ; GD +15
- Away: 4-4-3; goals 14; goals against; 14; GD 0
- Richmond: 4-12-8; goals 16; goals against 27; GD -11
- Home: 4-6-3; goals 10; goals against 13; GD -3
- Away: 0-6-5; goals 6; goals against 14; GD -8
Form
- Charleston: D | D | L | D | W
- Richmond: D | L | D | L | W
Statistical Leaders
- Charleston
- Goals: Romario Williams (15)
- Assists: Justin Portillo (6)
- Points: Romario Williams (32)
- Minutes: Taylor Mueller, Justin Portillo (2,160)
- Richmond
- Goals: Alhaji Kamara (4)
- Assists: Fred Owusu Sekyere (3)
- Points: Alhaji Kamara (8)
- Minutes: Braeden Troyer (1,980)
Previous
- Charleston Battery vs. Rochester Rhinos (W | 1-0)
- Charleston goals: Justin Portillo (83)
- Rochester goals: None
- Richmond Kickers vs. Toronto FC II (W | 2-1)
- Richmond goals: Sunny Jane (5); Matthew Bolduc (68)
- Toronto goals: Jordan Hamilton (4)
