The Charleston Battery played South Georgia Tormenta FC to a 3-3 draw, winning the penalty shootout for the bonus point, in Round 3 of the USL Jägermeister Cup group stage on Saturday at Tormenta Stadium. Charleston’s goals by Leland Archer, Cal Jennings and Emilio Ycaza were matched by the hosts’ late push for penalties. Goalkeeper Christian Garner recorded a penalty save during regulation, then delivered again in the shootout to secure the bonus point.
The night kicked off in 90 degrees Fahrenheit and with the Battery making six changes to their starting lineup from a week ago. Among the most notable of these changes was 17-year-old Viggo Ortiz slotting in for his first career professional start.
Leland Archer rose to the occasion in the 8th minute to fire the Battery ahead 0-1 with a towering header off Arturo Rodriguez’s corner kick. The chance materialized after Ortiz’s slicing advance into the box led to a corner kick, which Rodriguez delivered perfectly into the box. Archer leapt highest and redirected the ball into the net for the opening tally, Charleston’s first in the Jägermeister Cup.
Archer’s goal was his first of the season, and the fourth of his career. Rodriguez’s assist was his third of the year.
Tormenta looked to score an equalizer minutes later, but Yaniv Bazini’s shot hit off the woodwork.
Houssou Landry nearly notched his second goal in as many games in the 29th minute with a thundering shot from close range, but the attempt was saved by goalkeeper Samuel Jones. On the opposite end, goalkeeper Christian Garner made his first save of the night in the 30th minute, denying Taylor Gray.
In the 32nd minute, Mark Segbers made a crucial intervention against an advance into the box by Tormenta’s Niall Reid-Stephen, denying a promising chance for an equalizer with the incisive tackle.
Tormenta managed to level the score at 1-1 in the 44th minute via Gabriel Cabral off a free kick.
Garner came up big in stoppage time to save Reid-Stephen’s one-on-one opportunity after a defensive error led to the opportunity.
The game went into the break all square at 1-1. Charleston held a whopping 72% possession, but Tormenta had the majority of shots (eight to four).
Play resumed for the second half with both sides pushing for a breakthrough goal early. Tormenta had a pair of shots in the opening 10 minutes of the new half, but neither went on target.
Cal Jennings was the one who delivered just before the hour mark, slotting home a tricky finish in the 58th minute to give the Battery a 1-2 lead. Rodriguez took on three defenders in the box and provided the service with a cross to the Georgia native. From there, Jennings took a touch and turned to open the space for the goal that went between defender Jackson Kasanzu’s legs.
The goal was Jennings’ 12th of the year across all competitions, and the assist was Rodríguez’s fourth.
Tormenta were eager to level the score again immediately after Jennings’ goal and Garner was called to save another Reid-Stephen shot in the 60th minute, this time a diving stop that went off the crossbar.
Another noteworthy moment occurred in the 62nd minute when newcomer Jeremy Kelly came off the bench to make his Battery debut.
Kelly’s impact was immediately felt on the pitch, as he set up Emilio Ycaza to extend the Battery’s lead to 1-3 in the 64th minute. Kelly made the initial advance into the box from a pass by Ycaza before returning the ball to its original sender, and Ycaza fired a first-time strike to the far post.
Ycaza’s goal and Kelly’s assist were their first of the season, respectively.
Diego Rodríguez was the next debutant of the night, as he came off the bench in the 72nd minute to make his professional debut. The 18-year-old Rodriguez, and younger brother of Arturo, is signed to a USL Academy contract.
Tormenta, fighting for a wild card spot, began to apply heavy pressure in the latter stages of the game, with Sebastián Vivas hitting the post in the 74th minute, followed by Jonathan Nyandjo doing the same two minutes later. Vivas managed to score in the 83rd minute to make the score 2-3.
Nearing stoppage time, Tormenta were awarded a penalty after Segbers was deemed to have fouled Reid-Stephen in the box. However, Garner rose to the occasion again, making the penalty save against Vivas to preserve the 2-3 score.
Despite his heroics, Tormenta found the equalizer via Reid-Stephen in stoppage time to force the penalty shootout.
The match ended in a 3-3 draw, sharing a point apiece, with a bonus point up for grabs in the shootout.
Both Charleston and Tormenta were perfect through the first four rounds. Jackson Conway, Arturo Rodríguez, MD Myers and Ycaza all converted for the Battery, and Kelly delivered in the fifth round to add pressure to Tormenta. This time, Garner came up clutch and denied Gabriel Alves with a diving save, securing the bonus point for the Battery.
The points earned are the first for the Battery in the tournament, but Charleston remain in sixth in Group 6.
Head Coach Ben Pirmann and goalkeeper Christian Garner addressed the media after the match, with key quotes to follow.
Coach Pirmann on his immediate takeaways from the match…
It was a crazy game. I give full credit to Tormenta. I thought they played a great game. We were just average. We had players coming back from injury and gaining fitness, and younger guys playing, for sure, but full credit to Tormenta. I thought they played a great game and deserved the result that they got out of it. There were some bright performances for us, like Christian [Garner], despite the goals we conceded, he played a good game in goal.
The focus is on us improving, and we have a long way to go. We’re basically halfway through the regular season in the league, and we’ve got to keep getting better and better and better and better, and I think we will.
Tremendous support from our fans who were here and made the drive. We’re always appreciative of them.
At the end of the day, it was an up-and-down, crazy event, and probably good for this tournament, in this competition, but overall, a good game. Good advert for the tournament and now full swing into Wednesday for a tough game at Birmingham.
Coach Pirmann on the debuts and different player combinations…
Tonight, we had some preset subs. We’ve had a lot of injuries, we’ve had guys coming back from injuries. So, I was proud of our team’s effort. When you’ve got guys playing out of position and got guys injured, it’s an up-and-down game. We scored three goals, which is great, but we would love to take all three points in this tournament.
Diego Rodríguez makes his debut as an Academy signing, which is huge for our club. Viggo [Ortiz] gets his first start as a young player getting into his career. Leland Archer and Mark Segbers played 90 minutes, pushing fitness. Graham Smith seems to be back and pushed his minutes. Also, very good for Jeremy Kelly to make his debut.
I think our club and our community are doing things the right way. We’re integrating young prospects, young players. That’s one of the missions of this club, and it’s very important for that to be executed. Viggo has already played a game, but to make his starting debut is tremendous. For Diego, as an Academy signing, to play and play with his brother Arturo is an incredible event for them and their family, and our club.
Coach Pirmann on his message to the team after full-time…
The message to the team was that there was a compliment to Tormenta for playing such a good game. Ian Cameron does a great job with them, he’s got his boys playing hard, playing direct, and with a purpose. I thought we worked hard and had a good attitude.
The one message of reflection from this game was just that we wanted to make sure that we’re putting pen to paper and actions on the field of making improvements, not just talking about it, not just identifying it, but presenting solutions and implementing the improvements.
Then the last piece is the focus is on Wednesday.
Garner on his assessment of the game…
I think, overall, it was a solid team performance. The guys worked really hard, but we got to focus on closing out games, and at this point, it’s an unlucky result to only get two points out of the game and not three in the cup. But, all eyes are on Wednesday in the league.
It’s great to see younger guys like Viggo and Diego get some minutes and make a real impact on the game. So, I think the team overall is proud of them and happy to see them contributing meaningful minutes.
Leland and Graham getting back into the swing of things is the most important, getting them back in game shape and the game environment. So, that’s just another testament to their hard work in their recoveries and doing their best to be fit. They are major pieces of this team, and it’s great to see them healthy and doing well again.
Garner on what the team looks to build on from the performance…
Scoring three goals is huge, the defensive unit has to do our job better and close out a game at that point, because the guys up top are working really hard on and off the ball. Three goals should be enough for us to win a game. Sadly, tonight wasn’t that case.
I just really want to highlight that the production from the attacking group is great and something positive to build off of, even though it wasn’t a great result overall.
Garner on winning the penalty shootout…
Our goalkeeper coach, Brian Jones, does a great job on the scouting and work with that, and so that was a massive help. I do the easy part, and that’s saving the ball, and he does all the research and all that. So all credit to him with that.
We have certain preparations to know where certain guys want to go. So, I got a good jump on the last one, and a good read, then a strong hand to get us another point.
Charleston return to USL Championship action for their next match, away against Birmingham Legion FC, on Wed., July 2, airing nationally on CBS Sports Network. The Battery are back home on Sun., July 6, to host North Carolina FC in the Southern Derby on CBS Sports Network. Tickets for the nationally televised Independence Day weekend match are on sale now via SeatGeek.com, the club’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.
Lineups and Scoring Summary
Lineups
TRM: Jones, Alves, Jiménez, Kasanzu, Stretch, Drey, Cabral (Doyle, 79’), Gray (Bwana, 69’), Tunbridge (Nyandjo, 69’), Reid-Stephen, Bazini (Vivas, 69’)
CHS: Garner, Blackstock (Dossantos, 46’), Archer, Smith (D. Rodriguez, 72’), Segbers, Ortiz (Kelly, 62’), Houssou (Allan, 46’), Ycaza, Klein (Conway, 72’), Jennings (Myers, 62’), A. Rodriguez
Scoring Summary
CHS – Leland Archer, 8’ (Arturo Rodriguez)
TRM – Gabriel Cabral, 44’
CHS – Cal Jennings, 58’ (Arturo Rodriguez)
CHS – Emilio Ycaza, 64’ (Jeremy Kelly)
TRM – Sebastián Vivas, 83’ (Jonathan Nyandjo)
TRM – Niall Reid-Stephen, 94’ (Sebastian Vivas)
