The Charleston Battery demolished Miami FC in a 3-0 victory on Saturday at Patriots Point. Joey Akpunonu opened the scoring for Charleston and the Battery never looked back, with Emilio Ycaza and Arturo Rodríguez also adding their names to the scoresheet. The shutout win extends the Battery’s undefeated run to six games across all competitions and reaffirms their position atop the USL Championship standings.
The night was off to a measured start amid the sweltering conditions at Patriots Point. While Miami applied some early pressure in the initial minutes, Charleston began to assert their dominance by creating numerous chances.
Cal Jennings and Arturo Rodríguez recorded attempts on target in the opening 10 minutes, and Jennings then hit the woodwork in the 14th minute, but goalkeeper Felipe Rodríguez managed to deny the hosts each time.
Charleston’s breakthrough moment did not have to wait much longer, as Joey Akpunonu rose to the occasion and headed home the opening goal in the 19th minute to put the Battery in front, 1-0. Aaron Molloy delivered a perfect corner to the far post, and Akpunonu flew in to meet the ball with a header for the tally.
The goal was a notable one for Akpunonu as it was the first of his professional career. Molloy’s assist was his second of the year.
Charleston maintained their momentum and quickly searched for a second goal. Molloy nearly did that in the 21st minute with a shot that was saved, along with Arturo Rodríguez doing the same in the 25th minute.
The Battery capitalized on another set piece to double their lead in the 30th minute, with Emilio Ycaza putting the ball in the back of the net to make the score 2-0. Juan David Torres delivered an enticing corner that found Ycaza in the middle of the box. From there, Ycaza stayed strong in his position and stretched out his leg to redirect the ball past Felipe Rodríguez and into the back of the net.
Ycaza’s goal was his third of the year across all competitions. Torres’ assist was his eighth of the season, placing him in sole possession of the league lead.
The Battery took their momentum and the 2-0 lead into halftime. Charleston outshot Miami 15 to two, including 10 on target.
Play resumed for the second half with Charleston maintaining the form they ended the first half with.
It didn’t take long for Charleston to add a third goal, and in the 53rd minute, Arturo Rodríguez found the back of the net to cap off a stellar piece of movement from the whole team. The play was built out from the back and Rubio Rubín’s switch to Torres opened up the chance. Torres then played Jennings forward with a through ball, and Jennings cut a pass back into the box that Molloy decoyed, leaving Arturo Rodríguez a clean look on goal. The Mexican midfielder delivered a strong first-time strike to the back of the net.
The goal was the fourth of the season for Arturo Rodríguez. Jennings’ assist was also his fourth of the year.
While Charleston’s attack was on fire, the defense was equally solid. Joey Akpunonu, Graham Smith and Leland Archer totaled five blocks during the night. Luis Zamudio enjoyed a relatively easy day at the office and was not required to make one save during the match.
Charleston saw out the remainder of the match to secure the three points in the 3-0 win over Miami, avenging the earlier defeat in June in decisive fashion.
The win advanced the Battery’s record to 13W-3L-2D (41pts), reaffirming their position atop the league standings and three points ahead of second-place Louisville, who settled for a draw against Tulsa the same night.
It was also a notable night for the Battery’s Mark Segbers. The full-back played in both his 200th career regular season match and eclipsed 15,000 minutes played in the USL Championship. Segbers finished the match with five recoveries, two clearances and once chance created.
Rubio Rubín led the game with four chances created, while Torres’ three key passes added to his league lead of 46.
Luis Zamudio recorded his fifth shutout of the year. While not needing to make a save, Zamudio did register three clearances, one punch and seven recoveries.
Head Coach Ben Pirmann and defender Joey Akpunonu addressed the media after the match, with key quotes to follow.
Coach Pirmann on the team’s overall performance in the win…
The first four or five minutes, we were really poor and sloppy out of the back. I give credit to our guys for responding, but, it was crap at the beginning of the game.
And then for 20-25 minutes, up until the TV timeout, we were on them. We were outshooting them 13-0 [sic], we were active. And that is a very difficult thing to do. It was a great performance. Like you said, a lot of good individual efforts.
I thought we took our foot off the gas at 2-0, ramped it back up for 3-0 in the second half, and then shut up shop. So, good performance, complete for the most part.
The unique thing is, every week we have to start over and do it again. We’ve got the [USL Jägermeister] Cup next weekend, then a break, and then we keep pushing in the league. So just keep getting a little bit better. And like you said, a good, strong performance tonight, for sure.
About a month ago, we kind of got into the team a little bit for just not being good enough on attacking restarts. So, it’s very exciting to score that way, especially when you’re playing so well and you’re not scoring. Like, we had breakaways, we had slotted balls across the face of goal, we had distance shots. The goalkeeper made two or three good saves. We were doing everything right, and you reward yourself with two restarts. So that’s incredible. That’s, like you said, a complete performance.
Coach Pirmann on the all-around team effort…
I’ve got to give it to Mark Segbers and Nate Dossantos, flying up and down the field. It changes the game for us.
When you’re subbing in [Jeremy] Kelly, [MD] Myers and [Chris] Allan 15 minutes into the second half, you can really push on teams and squeeze them. And that’s kind of where we started to build things.
We had a holding mid, a center-back, and a left winger score. Like I said, when we’re playing well, everybody’s got to chip in. Sometimes that means saving the ball, sometimes it means making a slide tackle, sometimes it means finishing a chance. So yeah, we had to do it. Just got to keep getting better, for sure.
Akpunonu on scoring the opening goal…
I kind of know where Aaron tends to play it, a little bit toward the middle of the goal, a little bit deeper, so I just tried to get my head on the ball, and luckily it went in. I’m super excited to get my first goal, but more importantly, we got the win. That’s the main thing that matters.
We had a bit of a slow start, so getting that first goal settled us and helped us start playing the way we know we’re supposed to. It just calmed us down, and we were good after that.
Akpunonu on his role in the victory…
With the brand we play, we’re pretty possession-dominant. So, I think we all need to be good on the ball, but my first job as a defender is to defend and not let them score. It’s about finding that balance between being comfortable on the ball and being in the right position to stop attacks.
They beat us 1-0 there, and Coach [Pirmann] talked all week about how they were the more hardworking team. So, I think we showed them tonight that we’re more hardworking than they are, and like I said, it paid off with the win.
Charleston’s next match will be at home vs. the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Sat., July 26, in the USL Jägermeister Cup. Tickets for the final Jägermeister Cup group stage game are on sale now via SeatGeek.com, the club’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.
Lineups and Scoring Summary
Lineups
CHS: Zamudio, Dossantos, Akpunonu, Smith, Segbers (Archer, 73’), Ycaza (Allan, 59’), Molloy, Rodríguez (Klein, 89’), Rubín (Kelly, 59’), Torres, Jennings (Myers, 59’)
MIA: Rodriguez, Ricketts, Akinyode, Knutson, Cardona (Celeste, 62’), Mercado (Hoyos, 73’), Romero, Vázquez (Bent, 61’), Zárate (Gavilanes, 46’), Melano (Veron, 73’), Bonfiglio
Scoring Summary
CHS – Joey Akpunonu, 19’ (Aaron Molloy)
CHS – Emilio Ycaza, 30’ (Juan David Torres)
CHS – Arturo Rodriguez, 53’ (Cal Jennings)
