The Charleston Battery sank the Tampa Bay Rowdies in a dominant 1-3 road win on Saturday at Al Lang Stadium. Cal Jennings opened the scoring in the 7th minute from the penalty spot, and MD Myers’ brace in the first half lifted Charleston past their Florida rivals. The win marked the Battery’s fifth in a row in USL Championship play, a streak that started with Charleston’s April 5 win over the Rowdies in the reverse fixture.
The Battery secured their fourth consecutive win in the No Quarter Derby (2022-25), the supporter-led contest between Charleston and Tampa Bay, where the winner is decided after both regular season matches are played.
The derby was off to a fast start in St. Petersburg. Goalkeeper Luis Zamudio made his first save in just the 3rd minute, denying Leo Fernandes from inside the box.
Charleston’s early pressure paid dividends when Arturo Rodriguez was taken down in the box by Lawrence Wyke in the 6th minute, awarding the Battery a penalty.
Cal Jennings stepped up to the spot and buried the spot attempt to the left side to give the Battery a 0-1 lead. Jennings beat goalkeeper Nico Campisi to the side Campisi guessed, which was also the same side as the penalty converted in the April 5 meeting.
The goal was Jennings’ seventh of the year and extended his streak of league games with a goal contribution to seven games.
Charleston continued to pin Tampa Bay back after the opening goal, searching for another tally.
The Battery doubled their lead in the 19th minute when MD Myers finished off a pass from Jennings and delivered a clinical strike from inside the box to the far post. The play began with a long ball over the top by Zamudio that Tampa Bay were unable to handle. Jennings collected the loose ball and found Myers, who had plenty of space to strike.
The goal and assist were the seventh and second for Myers and Jennings, respectively.
Charleston did not have to wait long before being able to add to their advantage.
Arturo Rodriguez fired a shot from the edge of the box that was saved by Campisi, but spilled it right in front of Myers. The striker took a touch before slotting the ball into the net, putting Charleston ahead 0-3 in the 28th minute.
The goal was Myers’ eighth of the year across all competitions and his fifth of the league campaign.
Zamudio came up big in the 36th minute with a clutch double save from inside the six-yard box, denying Fernandes and Manuel Arteaga. The shot-stopper made four saves in the first half.
Rodriguez made a clutch save in the 40th minute with a clearance off the line on Wyke’s shot following the corner kick.
Charleston took the 0-3 lead into the break after a clinical first 45 minutes.
Play resumed in the second half with the Battery aiming to add to their lead early. Juan David Torres attempted to capitalize on the rain-soaked conditions that overcame the stadium with a shot from a free-kick in the 47th minute, his strike skipped off the surface but was saved.
Torres again fired a missile toward goal with a first-time strike in the 53rd minute that forced Campisi into another diving save. Charleston appeared to have added to their lead when Rodriguez slid in to
The Rowdies began to find a footing in the latter stages of the second half. Zamudio was tested again in the 72nd minute to deny Ollie Bassett with a quick reflex save. Tampa Bay, however, would get on the board in the 77th minute via Woobens Pacius, spoiling the bid for a clean sheet.
Charleston again appeared to score a fourth goal in the 88th minute when Rubio Rubín slotted the ball home after a sublime Torres through ball, but Rubín was flagged for offside in his run.
From there, the Battery saw out the 1-3 road win over Tampa Bay for their fifth consecutive league victory. The result also completes a regular season sweep for the Battery over the Rowdies and another triumph in the No Quarter Derby.
The win advances Charleston’s record to 6W-2L-0D (18pts), placing them in third in the Eastern Conference standings but on level points with second-place Louisville.
As of writing, Jennings now leads the league in goal contributions with nine (seven goals, two assists). His seven tallies also put him into a four-way tie for the Championship Golden Boot.
Michael Edwards had another productive match in his second appearance with the Battery since joining on loan from the Colorado Rapids, leading the match with five clearances.
Rodriguez enjoyed a productive day in attack and led the game with five chances created, along with two successful dribbles, two accurate long balls and 89% passing accuracy.
Head Coach Ben Pirmann, forward Cal Jennings, and forward MD Myers discussed the win after the final whistle, with key quotes to follow.
Coach Pirmann on what was working well tonight…
We started with a good intensity. There’s a way that both teams want to play, and we wanted to use a couple of things to our advantage, and we did straight away. I thought we had really good patterns and movements.
One thing with their extended press is you have to be able to win second balls. And, we did that on the second goal, great movement with Juan David [Torres] and Cal [Jennings] and MD [Myers] going forward. We want to keep the ball in the attacking half and force them to change shape, force them to change a little bit of an identity, and create the rebound. And, I just thought, what we do well, we did very well, especially for the first half.
And then, in the second half, we probably should score another goal, and it’s frustrating to concede one. But, at the end of the day, you go on the road, a big win against a good team, a big rival and a tough place to play, that’s an incredible result in the toughest week of our season so far. So, as always, good game. But now the focus is getting fresh, getting healthy and getting ready for San Antonio, a top team in the Western Conference.
Coach Pirmann on the fast start to the match…
The big thing we actually talked about was having that aggression for 90 minutes. When we scored the first goal, it was probably a little bit of a soft penalty, to be candid, I couldn’t see it on the replay. But, we wanted to keep going, keep being aggressive. Then the second and the third goal, and chances were there, then we forced their goalkeeper to make saves, we were hitting shots, getting crosses.
They had a couple of chances as well, but we were on them. We were on them for the majority of the game and played the game on our terms. I felt we played the game on our terms Tuesday against D.C., but we didn’t create enough chances. Tonight, I thought we created a good amount of chances.
Coach Pirmann on the defense’s strong performance with the shifting personnel…
If you look at things holistically, a couple weeks ago, maybe a month ago now, we talked about needing to just be a little bit stronger from the goalkeeping in the back line. Goalkeepers have been playing great. Both Christian [Garner] and Luis [Zamudio] have been top. Luis had another strong game today. We addressed after the Hartford game that we’re just leaking too many soft plays, too many soft attacks, not making teams really beat us. We improved on Tuesday at D.C., and tonight we played a desperate Tampa Bay team who are always going to throw numbers forward.
Michael [Edwards] and Joey [Akpunonu] have been strong at center back. We’re getting Nathan [Dossantos] back, he had a half tonight, which was very useful for him, but also for this team, because of where we’re at. Getting [Mark] Segbers back some minutes. Langston [Blackstock] has been pretty solid there, but he’s obviously taken a knock. So really, the focus just has to be understanding the team principles and then understanding our individual responsibilities, and that links in from the goalkeeper to the back line to the midfield players to the forwards, to have good collective team defending. So, it’s definitely something we got to keep improving, but we’ll just keep getting better at it and keep pushing and going from there.
Jennings on the importance of bouncing back after Tuesday’s result…
Honestly, in a three-game week, it’s always difficult because you don’t know exactly where your body’s going to be, but to get another win on the road is massive. Three points up in the table is a big deal, and to have a good performance as well was important.
There’s a little extra emotion when you’re going against a former club and maybe have some friends on the other side. But, I was just trying to focus on my role and not let the moment get the better of me. And I felt, after a little bit of maybe shakiness early, I calmed down and helped as much as I could to best get the result.
Myers on his growing strike partnership with Jennings…
It builds more and more every week. It kind of felt like things clicked right from the start, which was great. I got hurt for a little bit early on, but I think we picked up right where we left off. We have good chemistry, and it’s working well right now. It’s fun playing out there with him.
Myers on the significance of five league wins in a row…
It’s huge. Consistency is the most important thing in soccer. So, if we can keep winning, keep putting on strong performances, it is going to set us up for a good run at the end of the season. So, I think keep building momentum, keep building confidence, and the sky’s the limit for this team.
I think we all need a little rest and recovery, and we’ll be ready to get going again next weekend.
Charleston’s next match will be at home vs. San Antonio FC on Sat., May 17, for Military Appreciation Night at Patriots Point. Tickets for game are on sale now via SeatGeek.com, the club’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.
Lineups and Scoring Summary
Lineups
CHS: Zamudio, Houssou (Dossantos, 46’), Edwards, Akpunonu, Blackstock (Segbers, 50’), Molloy, Allan (Ycaza, 65’), Rodriguez, Torres, Myers (Martínez, 74’), Jennings (Rubín, 65’)
TBR: Campisi, Niyongabire (Pacius, 45’+1), Wyke (Rodriguez, 75’), Lasso, Guillen, Bassett, Bodily (Castellanos, 63’), Crisostomo, Worth, Arteaga (Mustali, 63’), Ferandes (Skinner, 63’)
Scoring Summary
CHS – Cal Jennings, 7’
CHS – MD Myers, 19’ (Cal Jennings)
CHS – MD Myers, 28’
TBR – Woodbens Pacius, 77’
