RICHMOND, VA – The Charleston Battery clinched one of eight Eastern Conference playoff spots Wednesday night with a 1-1 draw with the Richmond Kickers at City Stadium.
Richmond opened the scoring in the 50th minute through Anthony Grant. Midfielder Owusu Sekyere played a needle-point pass splitting the Battery defense and springing Grant through on goal. Grant let the ball run across his body and smashed a right-footed shot into the side netting of Alex Tambakis’ back post.
The match between the long-time rivals was physical from the first whistle and the game became a bit of a slugfest following the opening goal as the Battery searched for an equalizer.
The tying goal came in the 68th minute after substitute Jeffery Otoo earned a dangerous free kick just outside the Kickers’ penalty area. Justin Portillo stepped up and struck the free kick as well as someone can hit a dead ball, beating the wall and scoring his fifth goal of the year and first since June 18th.
The teams traded chances late, but neither could break through to find the game-winning goal. The tie locks the Battery into a playoff appearance and keeps Richmond in third place, giving both teams everything to play for in the final regular season matches as to top-eight clubs jockey for position in the table.
Charleston returns to MUSC Health Stadium this Saturday to take on the Rochester Rhinos, who are a point behind the Battery in the standings. The Battery and Kickers meet again for the final game of the series on September 17th at City Stadium.
Box Score:
CHARLESTON BATTERY: Alex Tambakis, Quinton Griffith (yellow card, 93), Taylor Mueller, Shawn Ferguson, O’Brian Woodbine, Zach Prince (Maikel Chang, 83), Justin Portillo (yellow card, 27; goal 68), Ataulla Guerra, Dante Marini (Jeffery Otoo, 66), Chris Tsonis (Ricky Garbanzo, 66), Romario Williams (yellow card, 43)(Heviel Cordoves, 50)
Subs not used: Odisnel Cooper, Emmanuel Adjetey, Forrest Lasso
RICHMOND KICKERS: Andrew Dykstra, Hugh Roberts, William Yomby, Braeden Troyer, Alex Lee (Lucas Paulini, 88), Yudai Aimura, Owusu Sekyere (Michael Callahan, 71), Miguel Aguilar (Sunny Jane, 78), Samuel Asante (Scott Thomsen, 70), Anthony Grant (goal, 50), Jackson Eskay (Matthew Delicate, 78)
Subs not used: Mark Nankervis , Romulo Peretta