The Charleston Battery played Hartford Athletic to a 1-1 draw in Week 33 of the USL Championship regular season at Trinity Health Stadium on Wednesday. Hartford took a 1-0 lead just before halftime, but the Battery clawed back in the second half with waves of pressure that forced an own goal to level the game at 1-1. Charleston’s penultimate road game of the regular season ended with the points shared and brought them another step closer to a top-four finish in the Eastern Conference.
Charleston and Hartford kicked off after the match was postponed from October 3 to Wednesday due to Hartford’s participation in the Prinx Tires USL Cup Final that same weekend. Both teams eyed securing playoff positioning going into the game, with a top-four conference finish in reach for the Battery and playoff clinching on the line for Hartford.
The game was a bit of a chess match early on, and the first shot on target didn’t arrive until Jeremy Kelly’s athletic effort in the 26th minute that was saved by goalkeeper Antony Siaha.
Hartford managed to score first in the 42nd minute via Augi Williams to take a 1-0 lead.
The hosts took the 1-0 lead into halftime after the late goal.
Play resumed in the second half with the Battery looking to claw their way back into the game. Miguel Berry and Nathan Messer entered the mix off the bench out of the interval.
Berry nearly made an immediate impact in the 57th minute to level the score. The striker took the free kick and went for goal, but his curler hit off the woodwork. Berry’s shot had Siaha beat if it was on target.
Charleston sustained their pressure in search of an equalizer. Messer had a narrowly blocked shot in the 68th minute and Kelly was on target again in the 72nd minute, but the 1-0 score remained.
The Battery leveled the game at 1-1 in the 75th minute when the pressure paid off to force an own goal. Camilo Sanchez played a cross into the six-yard box, which forced several attempts to clear the ball by the Hartford defense. However, Beverly Makangila’s clearance was shot into the backside of Baboucarr Njie, and the ball then ricocheted straight into the net. Njie was credited with the own goal.
Hartford made a last bid for a go-ahead goal with Barry Coffey’s shot on target in the 89th minute, and goalkeeper Luis Zamudio made a decisive save to preserve the tied score.
Charleston and Hartford split the points in the 1-1 draw as neither side found a match-winner following the Njie own goal.
Wednesday’s result moves the Battery’s record to 14W-9L-5D (47pts), placing them third in the Eastern Conference table. Charleston were unable to clinch a top-four finish while Hartford officially secured a playoff spot.
The game was notable for Maalique Foster, who officially eclipsed 10,000 career minutes played in the USL Championship regular season. Foster recorded two chances created, four duels won and four clearances.
Graham Smith and Joey Akpunonu led the match in clearances with 10 and nine, respectively. Akpunonu also recorded a team-best seven duels won.
Head Coach Ben Pirmann and defender Joey Akpunonu discussed the match after the final whistle, with key quotes to follow.
Coach Pirmann on his immediate assessment of the match…
Number one, we knew that they would be very aggressive in the man-on-man marking, and we knew that they’d be very good when they defend in midfield and lower spots, transitioning out with two strikers and going with athleticism, strength, and power. I thought against the counter, we were brilliant. But in our own build-up against the man-on-man press, we were really poor. There were too many giveaways in our own defensive third. Now, I’ll give Brendan [Burke] and Hartford the credit on that one, they outplayed us in those moments.
We spoke about the other option was that they’re very good on restarts. They’re leading the league in percentages of goals on restarts, and we conceded two last match, and we conceded again. It’s not excusable at this point of the season. We need warriors and animals and guys to make a play. We need to man-mark better. That was the name of the game.
But from that moment on, which for me is too little, too late, we were exceptional. We went after them. We created chances in the first half. We created chances in the second half. I think we probably should have drawn a penalty, and then we hit the bar, and we have some good moments here and there.
I was proud of the response, but then I thought, when it was 1-1, we reverted back to not being as strong in the build-up phase and not being simple. But to be fair, [Hartford] also made some really high-level subs, like we did. Michee Ngalina causes problems up top and Seb Anderson is a very good football player on the right side for them.
They deserve as much of the credit for the result and making us play not as strong as we would have liked to. Fair play to them, but also, we need to play a little bit better in those moments, control our emotions, and manage them in a positive way to funnel it into good aggression in playing the game in the attacking third.
But at the end of the day, 1-1 is probably fair. Frustrating for all of us because I wanted to win this game because they beat us last time. I wanted to win this game to try to push to be second place, and I wanted to win this game to be proud of who we are, play with these passions, go for the result, and get three points on the road, which has not happened often in this stadium this year. Fair play to Hartford, but also, good by our guys to come back after going down in the first half.
Coach Pirmann on the second half adjustments to level the score…
We had two sets of subs at halftime. We went with Nate Messer for Houssou Landry to get a natural left-footer to get around the edges in the attacking third. Then I wanted to get Miguel [Berry] on inside for the physical threat because he’s strong and can handle Adrián Diz and some of their stronger athletes.
Those were the two at halftime. Langston Blackstock was that right back a little bit out of position, so we put Douglas [Martinez] on, who’s probably our best natural up-and-down right fullback. After that, we went for it with Camilo [Sánchez], a direct replacement for Colton [Swan]. He added a really strong level of physicality and helped us push them back. That’s probably just him being a little bit more experienced, with Colton being 19 and still growing into it.
Then we went with Wilmer Cabrera on the left edge, his position to attack from outside to in as another striker, getting beyond Camilo and Miguel. We moved Jeremy inside to go for it. We kept the ball a lot. He’s a natural playmaker.
But then, when it went 1-1, we were too wide open, and we didn’t have that presence in the holding mid. That’s the give and take when you go for it, and you have a lot of attacking pieces on the field. Then you’re a little bit more open defensively. Hartford took advantage of that. They were direct with the balls into the front two, and then they did a good job of adding their wingbacks forward.
Akpunonu on his overall takeaways from the game…
As Coach Pirmann spoke to us, there are four important parts of the game. I think we did well with three of them. I thought we were pretty good for the most part on the ball. We had some giveaways, everyone has them every game. That is just part of soccer, but besides their goal on the set piece, we defended their set pieces well, and they’re really good at those.
It’s tough to come here, and it’s a tough place to play. They play a tough brand of soccer, very direct. So just kind of balancing it out and figuring out how to come away ideally with a better result. But I think at the same time, we’re also not okay with it, but a tie isn’t the worst situation to happen out of this.
Akpunonu on the difficulties posed by Hartford…
They’re a very direct team. They don’t really build the game too much. They’re really good direct, and they have very athletic and fast players up top, especially for me. So, just kind of figuring out how to deal with that in the best way possible.
I think for the most part tonight, we dealt well with it. Their goal came off a set piece, and we kind of talked about that all week, as that’s their style. They’re good at many other parts of the game, but they’re very good at set pieces.
For me, from what I was seeing while I was playing, I thought the first half, probably the first 30 minutes before the goal, we were kind of putting ourselves all over the field, doing well, creating chances. Then they scored, and I thought we dominated pretty much for most of the rest of the game, essentially.
Akpunonu on his opinion of the draw…
I would say it’s kind of a mixed feeling because I think three points would have guaranteed us a home playoff game already. So, in that regard, it’s frustrating. But again, all of us, coaching staff and players, we’re not naive. We know that Hartford are a really good team in this league and it’s tough to play here. So, a draw isn’t the worst-case scenario. It’s better than losing, but it’s worse than winning. I think it’s a step in the right direction for this team.
Charleston’s next match will be on the road on October 17 against Miami FC. The Battery return home for the regular season finale on October 24 against Indy Eleven, the last game before the playoffs begin the following weekend. Tickets for the match are on sale now via SeatGeek.com, the club’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.
Lineups and Scoring Summary
Lineups
HFD: Siaha, Diz, Presthus, Fischer, Makangila, Mines (Adedokun, 90+2’), Hadjipaschalis (Coffey, 58’), Pearman (Anderson, 58’), Nije, Obalola (Anaku, 58’), Williams (Ngalina, 76’)
CHS: Zamudio, Houssou (Messer, 46’), Akpunonu, Smith, Suber (Berry, 46’), Ycaza, Kissiedou (Cabrera, 73’), Blackstock (Martinez, 56’), Kelly, Foster, Swan (Sánchez, 62’)
Scoring Summary
HFD – Augi Williams, 42’
CHS – Baboucarr Nije, 75’ (Own Goal)
