The Charleston Battery triumphed 1-0 over Hartford Athletic on Saturday at Patriots Point. Nick Markanich scored a sensational bicycle goal in the first half that proved to make the difference. Goalkeeper Adam Grinwis tallied four saves while withstanding Hartford’s advances for his fifth shutout of the year. The Battery have now won five games in a row and are unbeaten in their last 10 to start the season.
Picking up where he left off the previous weekend, Nick Markanich opened the scoring in the 12th minute to score his 12th goal of the year. Markanich’s effort was a sensational bicycle kick inside the box after perfectly timing Chris Allan’s ricocheted shot. Allan was credited with the assist. Markanich’s 12 goals already surpasses his mark of 11 in the regular season and playoffs last year.
Charleston continued to apply heavy pressure but were unable to find the back of the net again in the first half. Hartford came close to equalizing in the 43rd minute when Romario Williams redirected Michee Ngalina’s cross off his thigh. Williams’ attempt hit the near post and the Athletic’s best chance of the night came up empty.
The Battery took a 1-0 lead into the break after holding a whopping 70% of possession and out-shooting Hartford, seven to two.
Hartford came out of the break eager to level the score and quickly tested Battery goalkeeper Adam Grinwis with a pair of early shots. Grinwis was up to the task, however, and denied the visitors in the 47th and 52nd minutes.
After Hartford’s early push out of the gate, the game began to slow, only two shots were recorded through the 70th minute, neither of which were on target.
The Battery pressed hard for a second goal with four shots on target in the final 20 minutes plus stoppage time, but goalkeeper Renan Ribeiro made saves on all four.
Hartford’s last-gasp attempt pushed Grinwis to make two spectacular saves in stoppage time, bringing his total to four on the night.
Charleston held on to secure the 1-0 victory, the team’s fifth consecutive win and 10th undefeated match in a row. The Battery’s record improves to 7W-0L-3D (24pts), top of the Eastern Conference standings.
Goalkeeper Adam Grinwis tallied his fifth clean sheet of the season, which puts him alone in first for the most shutouts in the league, as of writing.
Nick Markanich is firmly ahead in the Championship’s Golden Boot race with his 12th goal of the year. He also remains the top goalscorer across all U.S. domestic leagues. Markanich’s 12 goals are currently more than 17 Championship teams overall.
Head Coach Ben Pirmann and midfielder Chris Allan discussed the victory after the final whistle, with key quotes to follow.
Coach Pirmann on his assessment of tonight’s match…
They’ve got a good, athletic team. Brendan Burke does a great job coaching them, so we knew that they would bounce back [from their previous loss]. We dominated a lot of the phases but they were still comfortable. For us, what we needed to do a little bit better was keep the attacking and possession. To fight and get the shutout is tremendous. We’ve got to be a little bit sharper on things, but we’ll regroup and get back at it on Wednesday.
Coach Pirmann on Hartford pressing hard in the second half for an equalizer…
We probably should have scored, but every team in this league is good. They’re talented, they’re well coached. They increased their pressure in the second half, but we gained the space. It was a good game for us, it wasn’t a great game. But, three points in this league is tough enough. You just take it.
Coach Pirmann on the home support tonight…
Every time we get to play here we want to keep pushing. We love playing at Patriots Point. We love our supporters. As we got tired, they just kept pushing us on. They’re the reason we got all three points.
Allan on his assist in the play that led to Markanich’s goal…
Honestly, I just tried to keep it on frame. If it’s a shot, then at least the keeper can palm it out then we get another corner or a rebound. Luckily, it was a mishit enough that it was on target for Nick to hit it in. A goal is a goal at the end of the day.
We were honestly just working hard for each other, covering each other, and just communicating with each other every single minute of the game. That’s what it took tonight to see out the win.
Allan on overcoming the challenges Hartford caused…
Hartford have a very physical front row. They’re quite lazy up there, but it makes them very dangerous on the counterattack. It’s a give-and-take between us going forward and finishing the chances and getting the ball in the final third. If it does break down, then can we get the ball back before it’s a dangerous chance for them.
The Battery are back home on Wed., May 8, against South Georgia Tormenta FC in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Round of 32. Tickets for the game start at $9 and are on sale now via SeatGeek.com, the club’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.
Lineups:
CHS: Grinwis, Segbers, Dossantos, Archer, Smith, Allan, Markanich (Drack, 90+8’), Molloy, Ycaza (Crawford, 86’), Torres (LaCava, 78’), Myers (Gutierrez, 90+8’)
HFD: Ribeiro, Scarlett (Farrell, 64’), Samadia, Vancaeyezeele, Hodge, Hairston (Asiedu, 70’) Beckford (Mamadou, 78’), Chapman, Ngalina, Epps (Shaul, 64’), Williams (Buckmaster, 78’)
Scoring Summary:
CHS – Nick Markanich (Chris Allan), 12’
