The Charleston Battery defeated Loudoun United FC, 0-1, in Week 23 of the USL Championship regular season at Segra Field on Saturday. Second half substitute Langston Blackstock scored the winner on fellow substitute Douglas Martinez’s assist in the 64th minute to secure the victory over Loudoun. Charleston achieved their 200th all-time win in the USL Championship regular season. Additionally, by completing the season sweep of Loudoun, the Battery tied the league record for most consecutive games unbeaten against a single opponent (15).
Charleston kicked off looking to solve their road woes against a Loudoun side they had already defeated away from home.
Loudoun’s Abdellatif Aboukoura issued the first warning shot in the 4th minute with a strong attempt that rocked off the woodwork. However, the effort represented the only shot for either side in the first 15 minutes of play.
The Battery held roughly 64% possession through the half-hour mark but only had two shots recorded, an off-target header in the 20th minute by Sean Suber and a blocked attempt in the 23rd minute by Kirill Pakhomov.
Charleston and Loudoun went into the break scoreless after neither side recorded a shot on target in the first half.
Action resumed in the second half with all still to play for.
Loudoun nearly broke the game open in the 49th minute if not for a resolute defensive effort by the Battery on two moments in quick succession. First, goalkeeper Luis Zamudio saved Eddy Davis III’s shot from inside the box that wasn’t fully cleared away. Second, Joey Akpunonu expertly positioned himself on the goal line to block Richard Aman’s follow-up shot.
Zamudio made a clutch finger-tip save in the 54th minute to again deny Davis.
The Battery broke the game open in the 64th minute when Langston Blackstock found the back of the net for a 0-1 lead. Blackstock and Douglas Martinez both entered the match off the bench roughly seven minutes earlier and combined for the goal. Martinez played a cross into the box, and Blackstock made a timely run through the middle of the box for a routine finish.
Blackstock’s goal is his third of the year in USL competitions, and Martinez’s assist is his second.
Additionally, the Battery have now scored 10 goals via substitutes in the USL Championship this season, more than any other team.
As the game wore on in the final stages, Charleston looked to tighten their grip and see out the road triumph.
The Battery did just that and secured the 0-1 win over Loudoun for their 10th league victory, and third on the road, of the year.
Charleston secured their 200th all-time victory in the Championship’s regular season with the win, becoming the second team in league history to achieve the feat.
With the 15th consecutive unbeaten match against Loudoun, Charleston tied the USL Championship record for the longest undefeated run against a single opponent in USL competitions.
The Battery’s record advanced to 10W-6L-3D (33pts), placing them second in the Eastern Conference table.
Luis Zamudio made four saves, two clearances and nine recoveries en route to his fifth clean sheet of the year, and second in as many games.
Joey Akpunonu posted a match-high seven clearances in addition to his shutout-saving block on the goal line.
Head Coach Ben Pirmann, defender Langston Blackstock and defender Douglas Martinez addressed the media after the match, with key quotes to follow.
Coach Pirmann on his immediate reactions from the win…
I think that was a similar feel to a road playoff game. If Loudoun win that game, they’re above the playoff line. They pushed, they played a very good game, and it wasn’t pretty, especially after we went up a goal. We had to bear down and find a way, but everyone knows our road form this season hasn’t been very good, and we’ve been tough on the guys in our preparations and mentality, and they were fantastic tonight.
So, I thought the first half was relatively even. They had a big shot off the post. We had a couple big chances in the in the penalty box, and then in the second half, we made some alterations and some substitutes. We did a really good job and scored a great goal from Jeremy Kelly to Douglas Martinez to square for Langston Blackston for the tap-in, which was something we really focused on doing this week. So, it was well done there.
The last 20-25 minutes we had to hold on and limit some stuff, and Loudoun went for it, and we held on. Not pretty, but I tell you, the three points are massive. This team’s done a great job this season when we’ve been pushed to the limit. Take the three points, got to recover, and then a huge week going into Pittsburgh.
And I would just say there was a pretty solid amount of Black and Yellow in the crowd, so that means a lot to us. I know our players were able to celebrate with them after the game and thank them for the work, the expenses, and the energy that they spent to support us. I saw some Battery fans from Ireland and England in there, so that was exciting for us to have that backing on the road and help push us through. We’re always appreciative of their support, and that’s why we do it.
Coach Pirmann on the importance of earning a victory on the road…
It was huge. I think the biggest thing was for us to get all three points. As I said, the performance wasn’t necessarily the greatest. I think sometimes we feel like we have to play perfect football and we have to play to our strengths all the time.
To me, especially on the road against good teams that are fighting for their lives, it has to be toughness. It has to be doing the little details and being selfless. And that came out tonight. I know everybody wants to score, and everybody wants to have big statistics and big performances, but for me, it was more about what the team could do, what the 18 guys on the trip and the 11 players on the field could do to push to get all three points. That was very satisfying, and now we got to build on it and go again.
Coach Pirmann on the impact of the substitutes in the match…
It was two-fold. One was the individual position and performances. Wilmer Cabrera had been playing great and ran his socks off, and we wanted to get Langston on, who’s been training great and playing well lately. We looked at it as two guys that can play one position, let’s just go get the massive 90 minutes out of them as much as possible, and that’s what happened. Wilmer ran them for 60 minutes, and Langston came in fresh, and it’s tough to deal with. So, that was that side of it. Then Douglas had to go in for Nathan Messer on the yellow card, and pick up some athleticism and ball progression and duels on the right side.
Then the second bit was how we wanted it to impact the team from a holistic point of view. We didn’t feel like we were getting enough loose ball duels and a little bit of action. And the guys in the first half ran their socks off, and we carried the play for most of it. But we didn’t get a ton of fruits of our labor. So, when we wanted to make those subs, we wanted energy because we started to push them back. We were keeping the ball in the attacking half, and we’ve been telling Douglas that when he gets it, go to the end line. He drove 30-40 yards, pushed them back, pulls it back to Emilio Ycaza. We wanted Jeremy Kelly in the inside half spaces where he can thrive, and he did that. On the goal, Jeremy then got it back to Douglas, who squared it to Langston for the tap-in.
Blackstock on his match-winning goal…
Once I saw Douglas get the ball, I knew he was going to cross it in, and I had Maalique and Miguel in front of me occupying the defenders, so I knew I was going to be behind them. So, I called Maalique to run, and he selflessly did, leaving me wide open. Douglas then played in a peach into the box, and I was able to finish it in for the goal.
Martinez on the boost the away win gives the squad at this stage of the year…
It was an amazing performance in general from the team. This win on the road is very important to push our confidence higher even more and more. As the coaches have said, it is hard to play away from home in this league, but tonight was an amazing game from us. I’m happy for the assist to Langston, but most importantly, we have the win.
Charleston’s next match will be away, against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC on August 15. The Battery’s next home game is Sat., Aug. 22, against Miami FC, as the club celebrates Back to School Night 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
LDN: Bandré, Niyongabire, Erlandson, Mazzaferro (Souper, 76’), Awuah, Akinyode, Murphy (Dias, 76’), Torres (Santos, 17’), Aman, Aboukoura, Davis (Lomtadze, 62’)
CHS: Zamudio, Messer (Martinez, 57’), Akpunonu, Smith, Suber, Pakhomov (Houssou, 85’), Ycaza, Cabrera (Blackstock, 57’), Kelly (Hughes, 85’), Foster (Allan, 75’), Berry
Scoring Summary
CHS – Langston Blackstock, 64’ (Douglas Martinez)
