The Charleston Battery defeated Florida Badgers FC, 2-1, in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup First Round at Patriots Point on Wednesday. Colton Swan bagged a brace, the first of his professional career, which proved to be the difference maker. Charleston punched their ticket to the Second Round of the tournament and will now turn the page to league action on Saturday against Birmingham Legion FC at home.
The First Round kicked off with both teams eyeing a spot in the next round of the knockout tournament. Charleston controlled the opening 20 minutes, dominating possession with over 70% of the ball while recording four shots and holding the visitors without an attempt.
After waves of attacks, Colton Swan opened the scoring in the 21st minute with a header from inside the box, assisted by Kirill Pakhomov, to put the Battery up, 1-0. Nathan Messer lifted a cross from the left flank after a short corner-kick play that found Pakhomov, who headed the ball down into Swan’s path. Swan flew to the ball and headed it home for the opening tally.
The goal and assist marked Swan’s and Pakhomov’s firsts as professionals, respectively.
Charleston continued to control the match for the remainder of the first half, adding eight more shots while still preventing Florida from recording a shot in the time that remained.
Going into the break, Charleston maintained their 1-0 lead. The Battery held 72% possession in the first stanza, with Kirill Pakhomov leading the match with three chances created.
Play resumed in the second half with a trip to the Second Round still all to play for.
A solid chance for Charleston came in the 53rd minute when Wilmer Cabrera fired a shot from the left side of the box toward the far post, narrowly missing wide.
In the 59th minute, goalkeeper John Berner made his first save of the match, denying Florida’s Dave Altidor, which also marked the visitor’s first shot of the night.
The visitors managed to level the score, 1-1, in the 66th minute via Altidor.
Charleston continued to apply pressure to the visitors in search of a second goal, having tallied 16 shots through the 75th minute for an xG (expected goals) rating of 2.13 by Opta, compared to Florida’s 0.10 xG.
The intensity ramped up from both sides, as did tensions, with the game nearing the waning moments.
In the 92nd minute, Laurent Kissiedou appeared to have given the Battery a late lead when he put the ball in the back of the net after a perfect pass from Jeremy Kelly, but the referee’s flag was raised for offside. Miguel Berry nearly fired Charleston ahead in the 98th minute with a strong shot from distance that was parried over the bar.
The defining moment of the night arrived in the 112th minute when Swan again scored off a header to give the Battery a 2-1 lead, putting the Battery ahead with virtually the last touch of the game. Kelly delivered a corner kick that was knocked forward by Graham Smith to Swan for the header.
Swan’s goal, his second of the night, marked his first career professional brace at 18 years, 10 months and 15 days old. Smith’s assist was his first of the year.
Another noteworthy moment occurred in the final seconds of the game when Jack Wayne entered off the bench to make his professional debut at the age of 17 years, seven months and 24 days old.
Charleston held on to secure the 2-1 win over Florida to punch their ticket to the Second Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Pairings for the Second Round are due to be announced at the end of the week.
The victory also marks the Battery’s 43rd advance in the tournament (39 outright wins and four penalty shootout wins), which ranks fifth-most among all clubs since 1995, and is the most among active lower-division teams.
Head Coach Ben Pirmann and forward Colton Swan addressed the victory after the final whistle, with key quotes to follow.
Coach Pirmann on his immediate takeaways from the game…
You see cupsets all the time. You see crazy things. Like we said, the domination was there, but the final chance, you just focus on what you can influence.
The boys did a great job to find the second goal right before the end of regulation, so they did their job.
For me, I think the one focus was to finish more attacks. But our transition defending was pretty good, and obviously, like you said, the attacking movements to create 15 to 20 chances throughout were there.
Coach Pirmann on Swan’s performance, the impact of young players…
For me, proud of Colton. Obviously, two goals is a big deal. That’s why he’s getting call-ups. That’s why he’s been playing great. He had a great game, even fighting through some cramp there at the end.
I thought he and Miguel [Berry] did a good job switching some things up against their block, so it’s great for him to create that and finish the chance. The boys did a really good job of creating them for him as well.
Colton’s 18 [years old]. Kruz [Held] and Jack [Wayne] are 17, so three young boys really pushing. They’re doing a great job. They’re only about a month into their careers with us right now. They keep working hard, they keep having great attitudes, and they’ll keep helping this team.
Swan on scoring twice for his first professional goals…
Well, I saw the ball go in twice, which is my job. I’m just incredibly grateful to score in front of the home crowd and got a lot of people watching back home. Incredibly grateful for that.
It took a long preseason and a grind to get here. I’m just incredibly excited, and I’m glad that game is over.
It was a great redirection from Kirill [Pakhomov]. I talked to him inside. He said he didn’t really see anybody, but obviously, I arrived in space and put it in. A lot of those are just reactionary. There’s not really much planning. It really just happened so fast. Just glad they both went in.
Swan on the team’s winning mindset late in the game…
We just want to win, man. I think all of us are just obsessed with winning. I think that’s what gets us to this point, to this level, and hopefully on to bigger and better things as well.
As we continue to progress through the year, just continuing that winning culture and winning mentality each and every game, and we can put those kinds of games to bed, we should be in a very good spot this year.
I just believe that whatever happens, happens, and I’m grateful that we got the three points [sic] tonight and are moving on in the Open Cup.
Charleston’s next match will be on Sat., March 21, against Birmingham Legion FC at Patriots Point. Tickets for the game are on sale now via SeatGeek.com, the club’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.
Lineups and Scoring Summary
Lineups
CHS: Berner, Messer (Berry, 63’), Suber (Akpunonu, 63’), Smith, Blackstock, Cabrera (Kelly, 63’), Houssou, Pakhomov, Foster (Kissiedou, 63’), Ycaza, Swan (Wayne, 90’+13)
FLA: Barthelmy, Sirius, Remy, Rocher, Don, Arthur (Chery, 63’), Ambroise, Deliska, Gelp (Castin, 53’), Jean, Altidor (Droneus, 88’)
Scoring Summary
CHS – Colton Swan, 21’ (Kirill Pakhomov)
FLA – Dave Altidor, 66’ (Dave Don)
CHS – Colton Swan, 90’+12 (Graham Smith)
