The Charleston Battery fell 1-0 on the road to Detroit City FC at Keyworth Stadium on Saturday. Both sides were held scoreless for over an hour of play, but Darren Smith’s tally in the 75th minute proved to be the difference maker. The result marked Charleston’s first loss of the year, snapping their three-game winning streak across all competitions.
The match began amid sunny skies with temperatures hovering just above freezing in the Detroit suburb.
A notable milestone was hit at kickoff when Emilio Ycaza officially recorded his 100th overall appearance for the Battery. Ycaza, who joined the club in 2023 and has since ascended to the captaincy, is the 26th player in Charleston’s history to hit the century mark.
The hosts started the game on the front foot and recorded two shots in the opening 10 minutes, both strong but off target. Goalkeeper Luis Zamudio made his first save in the 14th minute to deny Jeciel Cedeño, a diving effort to his right side.
Detroit thought they had the opening goal in the 32nd minute, but the tally was ultimately chalked off for a foul in the 6-yard box by Callum Montgomery against Zamudio.
The game went into the break all square at 0-0. Charleston recorded only one shot (off target), compared to Detroit’s eight (two on target).
Play resumed in the second half with all still to play for.
The hosts once again believed they broke the deadlock in the 57th minute, but the goal was nullified for offside committed during the set-piece play.
Maalique Foster registered the Battery’s first shot on target of the match, an effort off the volley following a punched-out corner kick in the 65th minute, but it went right back to goalkeeper Carlos Herrera.
Detroit managed to open the scoring in the 75th minute via Darren Smith to take a 1-0 lead.
In the 82nd minute, another notable moment occurred when midfielder Jack Wayne entered the game off the bench to make his USL Championship debut. It marked the 17-year-old’s second career professional appearance.
Charleston began to throw more numbers forward as the game progressed into the final stages. However, a blocked attempt by Wayne in stoppage time was the only shot recorded during that wave of pressure.
Detroit held on to secure the 1-0 victory. The defeat was the Battery’s first of the season.
The result moves Charleston’s league record to 2W-1L-0D (6pts), placing them fifth in the Eastern Conference table with a game in hand, as of writing.
Head Coach Ben Pirmann and defender Graham Smith addressed the match after the final whistle, with key quotes to follow.
Coach Pirmann on the difficulties faced during the match…
I think first things first, you got to give Detroit and Danny Dichio credit. They outplayed us, they outcoached us, they outworked us. We knew we were a little bit shorthanded, and we knew they were going to be coming in flying after a tough game in Indy. And to be fair, over the course of 90 minutes, they leaned on it and tilted it in their favor and got the result.
I didn’t think we were poor, I don’t think we didn’t turn up. I think the preparation was fine, we worked pretty hard. I’d just say that Detroit did better than we did, and more specifically, a couple of moments. I didn’t think we were strong enough in our duels, we got dribbled by too many times. They got on top of us in the first half and pushed us back. And we need to be stronger and more collective in our defending, whether that’s defending in tighter blocks in midfield or putting pressure on the center-backs a little higher.
Coach Pirmann on his overall assessment of the afternoon…
I thought when we were able to find a little bit of rhythm, I thought we were a little bit too cheap, too many giveaways. And look, I get it, the elements were very difficult, but Detroit had to play in the same elements, and they were good in it. So, it’s a little bit of a perfect storm of things that didn’t go our way, but we’ve got to rise above it and go beyond it, especially on the road in this league against good teams.
So, that’s a good team. They’re clearly a playoff-caliber team and maybe even a top-half team in this division, and they outplayed us today, so fair credit to them. And we’ve got to improve and get straight back at it on Tuesday in the U.S. Open Cup.
Coach Pirmann on what he learned from the early defeat…
I think the teaching moment is probably for me more than anything. We’re still figuring out who we are. We only had 13 senior field players today, but those are just excuses. We’ve got to find what our best kind of rhythm is in the way we want to play and personnel. We just never really got into, call it a game model, call it a game idea. We never really exerted our will on the game and how we wanted to play.
So, the learning lesson is the reflection for me as the coach is, ‘How do we make it happen that we can play our style, and how can we play our way?’ And what we mean by that is, we want to be high energy. I didn’t think we put enough pressure on them. Fair credit to Detroit. They were satisfied with the way that they played. And like I said, we didn’t win the duels, but then in possession, I thought we were too careless and too cheap.
But, I don’t think it was for a lack of trying. I don’t think it was for a lack of quality. I think it’s just a little bit of the whole perfect storm as we talked about. So, for me, the learning lesson is that we’ve got to continue to find ways to exert our will on the other team and be a little bit less reactive. But the good thing is, we get to turn around and get after it again on Tuesday night.
Smith on his immediate takeaways from the game…
Playing away at Detroit is always a unique game, and they did a good job of using the field to their advantage. Overall, I thought we had the right mentality, but they made it difficult for us. There was a stretch in the second half where they put us under pressure. We did a decent job of weathering the storm, but they ended up taking advantage of an opportunity.
Smith on the quick turnaround on Tuesday to U.S. Open Cup play…
The quick turnaround is a positive for us. And the game on Tuesday is a great opportunity to respond against an excellent team in the Charlotte Independence and hopefully continue our Open Cup run.
Charleston will continue to hit the road for their next three matches: Charlotte Independence (March 31), Louisville City FC (April 4), Brooklyn FC (April 11). The Battery’s next home game will be on Sat., April 18, against the Tampa Bay Rowdies on national television at Patriots Point. Tickets for the match are on sale now via SeatGeek.com, the club’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.
Lineups and Scoring Summary
Lineups
DET: Herrera, Silva, Montgomery, Amoo-Mensah, Yamazaki, Williams (Diop, 73’), Hernández-Foster, Diouf, Rodriguez (Preston, 41’ (Stanley, 80’)), Cedeño (Egbuchulam, 73’) Smith
CHS: Zamudio, Messer, Akpunonu, Smith, Blackstock (Kissiedou, 70’), Suber (Wayne, 82’), Pakhomov (Houssou, 62’), Kelly, Foster (Cabrera, 70’), Ycaza, Berry
Scoring Summary
DET – Darren Smith, 75’ (Ates Diouf)
