The Charleston Battery comfortably defeated Miami FC in a 5-0 victory in Week 26 of the USL Championship regular season at Patriots Point on Monday. Miguel Berry’s brace led the way, along with goals from Maalique Foster, Graham Smith and Alec Hughes, for the Battery’s fourth five-goal performance of the year. Goalkeeper John Berner notched the clean sheet in his first league start of 2026. Charleston’s win extended the club’s home unbeaten run to 24 games in the regular season.
Play kicked off at Patriots Point roughly 48 hours after the originally scheduled time due to the severe weather that postponed Saturday’s clash.
Charleston opened the scoring in the 19th minute when Maalique Foster capped off a perfect team play and fired the Battery ahead, 1-0. Jeremy Kelly forced the issue with his pass forward to Foster, who then squared the ball to Miguel Berry, and Berry released Foster with a perfect pass into the box. Foster won the foot race to the ball and slotted his shot first-time around goalkeeper Eloy Room and inside the post.
Foster’s goal was his ninth across all competitions this year, seventh in league play, and Berry’s assist was his sixth of 2026.
The complexion of the game changed in the 35th minute when Miami’s Denilson Milanés was issued a straight red card for violent conduct. The dismissal reduced Miami to 10 men for the next hour of action.
Right before halftime, it was Berry’s turn to add his name to the scoresheet when he struck in stoppage time to put the Battery up, 2-0. Kelly again was central to the start of the play, but it was Berry’s fancy footwork that enabled him to evade one defender and then dance around Room for an open look on goal. The striker then buried his shot into the back of the net.
Berry’s goal was his sixth of the year across all competitions.
Charleston took the 2-0 lead and one-man advantage into the break, dominating both the scoreline and possession battle with 67.5% held.
Play resumed for the second half with Charleston looking to carry forward their momentum from the first stanza while up a man.
The Battery seized the opportunity quickly and Berry scored in the 47th minute with a stunning strike to secure the brace and add to the lead, making the score 3-0. Kelly and Nathan Messer maintained possession along the byline and Messer’s attempted cross was deflected back towards Berry. From there, Berry struck the ball off the volley with the outside of his boot and to the far corner of the goal.
Berry’s brace, his second of the year, brought his goal total to seven across all competitions.
Charleston kept up the pressure, and Graham Smith added his name to the scoresheet in the 62nd minute off a corner kick to increase the lead to 4-0. The ball was initially punched away by Room but not fully cleared, and Smith was perfectly placed inside the box to fire the ball home.
Smith’s goal was his second of the year across all competitions and his first since 2024, when he netted two for the Battery.
The Battery’s barrage continued as the half wore on, making it clear the hosts wanted another five-goal performance for the home crowd.
Alec Hughes went from off the bench and on the scoresheet with his header in the 86th minute to add to Charleston’s lead and make the game 5-0. Emilio Ycaza provided the service from the left flank outside the box, and his cross met Hughes flying in, who essentially had a free header at the near post.
Hughes’ goal was his second of the year, and Ycaza’s assist was fourth of the campaign.
Goalkeeper John Berner, making his first league start of the year, was finally tested in the 90th minute, being forced to make his only save of the night by denying Joel Sonora.
Charleston secured the comfortable 5-0 win over Miami and extended the club’s home unbeaten run to 24 games in the regular season, the longest active streak in the Championship. It also marked the Battery’s fourth five-goal performance of the season, three of which have happened at home.
The win advances Charleston’s record to 11W-7D-3D (36pts), placing them second in the Eastern Conference table, and increases their league-leading goals scored total to 44.
Miguel Berry led the way against Miami with two goals and one assist, marking his second brace of the season.
Jeremy Kelly was only credited with one assist, had a hand in three of the Battery’s five goals, and was accurate on 98% of his passes (39/40).
John Berner only needed to make one save in what turned out to be a relatively calm day at the office for his first league appearance of the year, notching the clean sheet.
Emilio Ycaza tallied an assist, and led the game with four interceptions, nine recoveries, and seven duels won (tied).
Head Coach Ben Pirmann and forward Miguel Berry discussed the win after the match, with key quotes to follow.
Berry on his performance with the brace against Miami…
We did a really good job actually overloading them and their back line. I think our back four, our back six really, did well in attracting them, and that allowed me and Jeremy [Kelly] just to kind of roam free. And within that, the first goal was an incredibly well-worked goal. The second one as well, in tight spaces, I don’t think there’s many teams in this league that can play like that through those spaces.
And after that, it just kind of opened up, obviously, the red card. I’m just proud of the guys. Clean sheet. And we got through the game mostly without injuries. And it was a good feeling, and on to next week.
Berry on the team’s chemistry and the build-up to the goals…
We have a small squad, so we’re constantly playing with each other. It’s not like that many guys, not that many combinations of guys who can play. We’ve built the reps over the course of the season, and it was just a well-worked goal all around.
I think the pass Jeremy [Kelly] played to Maalique [Foster], he knows he’s going to lay it off to me. It’s thinking two passes ahead. It’s really excellent. And it was a great goal, and I’ll be thinking about that assist for a while, so it’ll be nice.
Coach Pirmann on his immediate reactions after the victory…
We’ve been good at home. We’re brave, we go for it. Maalique [Foster] scored a great, great goal to get us going 1-0 with the nice build-up, and Miguel [Berry] slipped him, and we played some good football there.
And then after the red card, it was kind of downhill for us, with the momentum being able to get us going. But you mentioned it, we shifted our lines quickly out of possession. We were tough in our duels. I don’t think we gave up a shot in the first half. And then things opened up, and we can get some more chances, and it was tough for Miami down a man.
For us, the focus was on being selfless, running in behind, and allowing those transition moments to try to tilt our favor. And I thought we did a good job on that for sure.
Coach Pirmann on how the team’s depth played a role in the win…
Everybody’s ready to go. Everybody’s ready to go, whatever position it is or the moment. So, we got to stay healthy. We got to get healthy. We got to continue to be brave when we’re playing in these games, but we also got to be smart.
So we’ve got good depth. We got hungry players. Wilmer [Cabrera] went from not starting on Saturday night to 90 strong minutes tonight. Just keep pushing, pushing, pushing. Everybody’s ready to go when their number’s called.
Charleston’s next match will be away, against Las Vegas Lights FC on August 29. The Battery’s next home game is Wed., Sept 2, against Hartford Athletic, as the club hosts Pups at the Pitch at Patriots Point. Fans will be welcome to bring their dogs with them to the game, and tickets for the match are on sale now via SeatGeek.com, the club’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.
Lineups and Scoring Summary
Lineups
CHS: Berner, Berry, Foster (Blackstock, 62’), Kelly (Hughes, 65’), Cabrera, Ycaza, Kissiedou (Pakhomov, 46’), Houssou (Suber, 46’), Smith, Akpunonu, Messer (Allan, 73’)
MIA: Room, Rocha, Milanés, Locadia (Tunbridge, 71’), Díaz (Soñora, 46’), Romero (Mello, 58’), Ndiaye (Musto, 58’), Milesi, Knutson, Rogers (Zubaidi, 46’), Calfo
Scoring Summary
CHS – Maalique Foster, 19’ (Miguel Berry)
CHS – Miguel Berry, 45’+3 (Jeremy Kelly)
CHS – Miguel Berry, 47’
CHS – Graham Smith, 62’
CHS – Alec Hughes, 86’ (Emilio Ycaza)
