The Charleston Battery secured a 1-0 victory over Monterey Bay FC in Week 29 of the USL Championship regular season at Patriots Point on Saturday. Camilo Sánchez provided the heroics off the bench with the match-winning goal in the 78th minute. Daniel Kuzemka notched a clean sheet in his first appearance since 2024. With the win, the Battery officially punched their ticket to the 2026 USL Championship Playoffs, becoming the second team in the league to do so.
Charleston and Monterey Bay kicked off with the hosts aiming to punch their tickets to the 2026 USL Championship Playoffs with a victory.
The Battery nearly opened the scoring in the 11th minute when Douglas Martinez sent in a tantalizing cross right in front of the goal, but both Emilio Ycaza and Colton Swan were unable to redirect the pass into the net. Another promising opportunity came in the 19th minute following some sublime build-up play, but Miguel Berry was unable to take a shot amid his charge into the box.
Goalkeeper Daniel Kuzemka, making his first start of the year and his first appearance since May 2024, was tested in the 26th minute to make a save on Sebastian Lleget’s free kick.
Berry threatened again before the break with a shot on target in the 42nd minute, but the strike lacked the pace to make it past goalkeeper Jacob Jackson.
The game went into the break scoreless. Possession narrowly favored Charleston and each side had one shot on target in the first half.
Play resumed for the second stanza with all still to play for given the 0-0 scoreline.
Monterey Bay started the half on the front foot, but Kuzemka was up for the challenge. Omari Glasgow and Lleget recorded shots on target in the 52nd and 56th minutes, respectively, and Kuzemka saved both attempts.
A notable moment occurred in the 59th minute when Camilo Sánchez entered the game off the bench for his first appearance at Patriots Point. The Colombian striker made his club debut in Week 28.
Charleston continued to apply pressure against Monterey as the game neared the final quarter-hour of action as they searched for the night’s opening tally.
In the 78th minute, Sánchez provided the heroics to score the go-ahead goal off a Jeremy Kelly corner kick, sending the Battery ahead 1-0. Kelly’s service was placed perfectly to Sánchez in the middle of the six-yard box, and Sánchez stuck out his right leg while fighting off Jackson to knock the ball into the net, sending Patriots Point into a frenzy.
Sánchez’s goal was his first in Battery colors to put an exclamation mark on his home debut.
Kelly’s assist was his 10th across all competitions, matching a single-season career high. It was also his ninth of the league campaign, placing him first in the Championship Golden Playmaker race, as of writing.
From there, the Battery closed out the 1-nil victory over Monterey Bay, moving their record to 13W-8L-4D, 43pts.
With the win, Charleston officially punched their ticket to the 2026 USL Championship Playoffs. Next on the Battery’s to-do list will be securing a top-four finish in the Eastern Conference to lock in home field advantage for at least the opening round of the postseason.
Charleston’s triumph over Monterey Bay extended their undefeated run against the California club to three games in the all-time series (2W-0L-1D), and concluded the interleague portion of their 2026 regular season schedule with a 3W-2L-1D record.
Daniel Kuzemka recorded three saves and six recoveries en route to his first clean sheet of the year.
It was an especially meaningful night for Ben Pirmann, as the Battery boss celebrated his 41st birthday with three points at home.
Head Coach Ben Pirmann, defender Douglas Martinez and forward Camilo Sánchez addressed the media after the victory, with key quotes to follow.
Sánchez on scoring the match-winner for his first Battery goal…
First, I want to say, thanks God for the night today. For Him, I’m doing this [goal]. I’m happy. I’m happy for the [goal]. Finally, I can play in the home. The only thing I can say is this is God’s time, because I waited so much, and the people close to me, they know like how many time I wait for that. I believe so much in God, and today, He give me the victory and the goal for everyone here.
Sánchez on being ready when his number was called…
I don’t know if you know, but I have like three months [getting] ready, training for the team, so they know how is my performance, so they know how I play. So when I come inside, I only want to give my best always for the club, and then we go for now.
Martínez on his assessment of tonight’s victory…
Yeah, a little frustrated because we didn’t score the goals that we wanted to score. It was a frustrating win, but at the end of the day, I’m happy for this group. We fight since the first minute until the end, and we deserve it.
We’ve been working hard during the whole season. Like I said, we work hard every day in training, in the games, and I’m just happy for this group and happy that it’s a Hispanic [Hertiage Night].
Martínez on Sánchez scoring his first goal for the Battery…
I’m very happy for him. I’m very proud for him. I know he’s been waiting so long, for like three months, but he never give up. He’s been training great the past three months, and he deserves it. I’m very proud of him, and I hope he keeps helping the team because he’s a very good player and a very good human.
Martínez on the atmosphere at Patriots Point…
I think it’s the first time in the whole year that I see the stadium with this kind of vibe, that helped us. Like I said in the beginning, it was frustrating, but seeing the people outside supporting us and giving us the vibe that we needed during the whole game helped us a little bit. So, I’m proud of this victory for them as well.
Coach Pirmann on officially clinching a spot in the playoffs…
I didn’t even know until they just put it on the board. That’s good. I mean, look, that’s the standard that we want, and we want to get the highest we can go. For us, we’re just focused one game at a time. To do it with five games left, shows we’ve been a really strong club in our four years. People like Rob Salvatore and Lee Cohen, who probably don’t really get the credit they deserve, and our owner, Larry Guffey, they put their time and resources into it.
This is for our fans. The players do it. But, as I mentioned, it’s a whole community, a whole club. So proud of the boys, proud of the club, proud of the community. Now five more regular season games, keep going.
Coach Pirmann on his assessment of the victory…
I thought we were a little second-best, to be honest. It wasn’t a great performance. But I’ll say number one, I got to give Monterey Bay credit. They coached a great game. They played a great game. They went for it. They were aggressive. We did have a few chances that maybe, at some of our other home games, you put away, and then we can get going.
But we even mentioned in the team talk, it might take 60, 70, 80 minutes to score. So I’m proud of the boys to stick with it. Our attention to detail was pretty good. Really proud of Dan Kuzemka to get his shutout after a long time. And Camilo Sánchez, who comes off the bench, provides that physical presence to score the goal. So, we didn’t play a great game, but we won, and that’s a sign of a good team. So, let’s build off of that and get better.
Charleston’s next match will be at home vs. Rhode Island FC on Sat., Sept. 26, 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: Kuzemka, Messer, Akpunonu, Smith, Martínez, Kelly (Suber, 90’+2), Ycaza (Allan, 68’), Kissiedou (Pakhomov, 68’), Foster (Blackstock, 68’), Swan (Sánchez, 59’), Berry
MB: Jackson, Ritchie, Egwu (Farnsworth, 77’), Gordon, Garcia, Nakamura, Ross (Tavares, 81’), Montes (Canete, 58’), Lletget (Leggett, 81), Barajas (Glasgow, 46’), Paul
Scoring Summary
CHS – Camilo Sánchez, 78’ (Jeremy Kelly)
