Battery take on LA Blues Friday July 1

The Battery take on inaugural squad LA Blues on Friday night at Blackbaud Stadium.  Kick off is at 7:30pm.  You can watch the match live on www.USLlive.com

Charleston will look to rebound from a lackluster performance that saw them loose to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2-0 last Saturday at home.   The loss comes after a great showing against Wilmington the night before away from home.  The 2-0 victory came from a great team performance and goals from Seedy Bah and Dane Kelly.

Whether the changes in the lineup for Saturday's game or the quick turn around on matches were to blame, Charleston will have to preform better if it wants to make it to the post season.

Friday night's match will be the first meeting between LA and Charleston, a meeting that wasn't supposed to happen this year.  LA was swapped in as opponents after Puerto Rico United was withdrawn from the league.

LA will be a tough team and the Battery defense will have to be at the top of their game.  Eleven different players have scored for the Blues with Argentinian, Walter Gaitan leading the charge with four goals.  He has been creating goals as well with three assist this season.  Their defense has a familiar face in former Battery player Nelson Akwari.  Nelly was a rock in the backline for the Battery in 2008 and 2009 before moving on to the Vancover Whitecaps in 2010.

Charleston looks to still be without the services of JC Mack who was in a walking cast last week and Graham Dugoni (Back). 

There will be fireworks immediately following the game on Friday night but there will be no organized tailgate for Friday's match but feel free to stop by and share a beer near the east stands entrance with a few of us.

Catching up with the Battery.

Been a busy week or so in No Quarters Headquarters (actually just had friends staying with us for a week but with two additional kids, it put a premium on computer time!) But a lot has gone on with the Battery. 

First a 2-0 win on the road against Wilmington.  Fabulous to see the boys play well and for both Seedy Bah and Dane Kelly to get the goals.  Watching the match at the Madra Rua was great as our group attracted the attention of several people watching the the Gamecocks in College World Series.

Sadly, Saturday's home match result was reversed.  The Pittsburgh Riverhounds came out early and got a goal in the first minutes of the game and the Battery looked like they were struggling to gel.  About the time they seemed to be getting it together, Pittsburgh had a blast of a shot from about 25 yards out to put the match out of reach for the home team.

Both Lamar Neagle and Tommy Heinemann started for their MLS clubs this past weekend and Heinemann opened up his scoring account with this goal for Columbus.  Former Battery player Omar Daley recently scored for his national side, Jamaica during the Gold Cup.  And Alonso continues to be a key member of the Seattle Sounders. 

Also, with the US Men's team in the Gold Cup recently and now the FIFA Women's World Cup just kicking off, it may be easy to forget about the US Under-17 team in the U-17 World Cup in Mexico.  What you might not know if that US defender, Joe Amon is from right here in the Charleston area.  Amon is from Summerville and played for Bridge FA in 2008 and 2009 and then with South Carolina United FC (which recently partnered with the Charleston Battery to become SC United Battery) in 2009 and 2010.  Amon was selected to attend the US U-17 residency program in Bradenton, Florida in 2010 and has started in all three group matches so far.  The US U-17 finished second in its group and will play Group E winner, Germany, on Thursday, June 30 at 4pm.  All the Us U-17 matches can be found on ESPN3. 

This week will see the Battery take on the LA Blues Friday night at 7:30pm EST at Blackbaud Stadium.  More on that tomorrow.

Busy weekend for the Battery

This weekend sees the Battery with two matches.  One away on Friday night and one at home on Saturday night.

Friday nights away match is against Wilmington Hammerheads.  This match will be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel and there is a Watch Party hosted by the Regiment to watch the match at the Madra Rua in North Charleston.   The Game kicks off at 8pm but some of us will start congregating there around 7.  Come on down, support your local team and get some food and drinks at a pub that has been very supportive of Battery and for that matter all soccer fans!

Saturday, the Battery will be home against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.  It is Toy's for Tots night and if you bring a NEW and UNWRAPPED toy, you will receive FREE admission.  Also there will be a Teddy Bear toss at half time so bring out your stuff animal but try to wait til halftime to throw them (we know sometimes the refs can be tempting targets!)



The Regiment will also be firing up the grills around 5:30pm near the East Stand Entrance!  Come join the Battery Supporters Group for some grub (looks like Hot Dogs and whatever others bring) and a pre- match bevvie or two and support the Battery!

Also kicking off at 9pm that night the USA will play Mexico at the Rose Bowl in LA (hearing it is already sold out)  in the Championship match of the Gold Cup.  I know the Three Lions will have it on but if you are headed back downtown, check out O'Malley's on King Street or head over to Madra Rua in North Charleston. 

Finally, the Regiment have set a date for the Player Appreciation Picnic.  It will be August 14 so if you want to go and haven't renewed your Regiment membership for 2011 yet, there is still time.  More details about the picnic out in the next couple weeks.

Battery out of US Open Cup

The  Battery lost to Orlando City FC Tuesday night 1-0. 
 
Excellent post match review of the match by the Regiment's own Corbin Ensminger over at www.thecup.us

It was a historic win by Orlando City, as they became the first non-MLS team to win at Blackbaud Stadium in US Open Cup play. The Battery have been playing Open Cup games in that stadium since 1999 and rarely lose. They are 18-5-3 (2-1 in PKs) in that stadium all-time in this tournament and will fail to reach the Third Round for the first time since 2005.

 The rest of the article can be found here

Hopefully we can get Corbin to do a few feature articles for No Quarter in the future.

Second Round US Open Cup vs...Orlando City FC

Charleston will take on high flying Orlando City FC in the second round of the US Open Cup on Tuesday, June 21 at 7:30pm.  The match will be played at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, South Carolina.


Charleston have a long history of advancing to the later stages of the US Open Cup and you can bet this year is no different for the club.  Orlando City will be a stern test but one that Battery will feel up for.   It is rumored New Zealand international Cole Peverley was training last week and participated in an inter squad match.  Even if Cole isnt ready for the full 90 minutes, it will be good to have him on the bench as it looks like Diego Walsh will not be available as he has flown to Thailand to participate in a trial. 

Also questionable are JC Mack and Graham Dugoni.

Coach Anhauesuer will prove his 2010 USL-2 coach of the year status this week with player selection limited and at least three matches in five matches.  If the Battery advance past Orlando, they will face FC Dallas in the third round of the US Open Cup in Texas making it the fourth match in seven days.  Crazy for even the deepest of teams.

Orlando City will be coming in looking for the win.  The Battery defense will have to neutralize league leading scorer Max Griffin and watch the threat of Jamie Watson.  The Orlando City goalkeeper, Miguel Gallardo, has a league high of seven shutouts and looks to be one of the USL Pro's top keepers, but he also has the league second highest save rate, something that could indicate a defense that could help him out more. 

The match will also herald the return of fan favorite Ian Fuller to the 'Baud.  Fuller is acting as player/assistant coach with Orlando City FC.

The Stadium will be configured only for West Stand seating once again.  We have also been told that the match will air live on www.USLlive.com. 

Up the Battery!

Battery defeat Dayton, and other news

The Charleston Battery defeated the Dayton Dutch Lions with a second half goal from Levi Coleman.

It wasn't the prettiest game the Battery have played this season but they got the job done. The win keeps Charleston in the final playoff position in the American Division, only two points behind second place Richmond and six points behind Division and league leaders Orlando City.

Coleman's goal was started when Colin Falvey slotted the ball to Evan Taylor out wide.  Taylor crossed the ball across the face of goal to an open Coleman who neatly tucked it into an open net.  The goal was Coleman's second of the season.

You can see a complete write up of the match at Battery website or in the local paper. 

Also, Andrew Miller of the local Post and Courier had a good feature article on Diego Walsh on Friday.  Miller reported Walsh had signed a contract to the end of the season but is now reporting on his blog that Walsh is headed to Thailand for a trial.  Of course, their is no guarantee that Walsh will get picked up, all though we certainly wish him the best of luck.  In fact, we aren't even sure when the Thai season starts and their is a good chance he will be back (his fiancee is expecting their child in a couple months and her family lives in the Charleston area.) What we do know is that he headed overseas today and that he will not be available for the US Open Cup match against Orlando City on Tuesday night.

That match Tuesday will be the start of a grueling week for the Battery squad.  Orlando is riding high in the league and will be looking to knock Charleston out of the US Open Cup.   It will also be the return of Ian Fuller to the 'Baud.  Friday night, Charleston will travel to Wilmington to take on the Hammerheads.  The match will be featured live on Fox Soccer Channel and The Regiment is finalizing the details on a watch party for those interested.  Saturday night, the Battery will host the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, the third match in five day.  To make things even more interesting, if the Battery win Tuesday night, they will play Major League Soccer's FC Dallas on Tuesday June 28 in Dallas, the fourth game in seven days, with two being away.  Crazy for even the most fittest players.

The Battery also announced an international friendly against English championship side, Portsmouth FC on July 27 at Blackbaud Stadium.  Tickets go on sale Tuesday and start at $20.  Look for more details in the future from No Quarter but you can be sure this one will sell out, as did the Bolton match last season.

Battery roll onto second round of the US Open Cup

The Charleston Battery defeated Regals FC of Houston Texas in the first round of the US Open Cup.  With the win to advance to the second round where they take on Orlando City FC at Blackbaud Stadium on Tuesday June 21 at 7:30pm.

The Battery started a mix of first and second team players after ten day lay off from their last match.  The Battery dominated most the possession and shots on goal, 18 shots on goal with nine saves from the fabulous play of Regal FC goalkeeper, Marcus Sanchez.

The Battery created several chances but couldn't find the back of the net.  The score could have been easily 4 or 5 goals if not for hitting the woodwork several times as well.  But the boys keep knocking and eventually opened the door.

A somewhat controversial penalty call just after the start of the second half found Nicki Paterson stepping up to the spot to give the Battery a goal advantage and the confidence to go looking for more.

Dane Kelly found a second goal for the Battery after a nice build up of play and a creative back pass from Seedy Bah.



Sadly, J.C. Mack had to be carried off the field in the first half and was replaced by Diego Walsh.  Mack went down after a tough tackle and the physio was working on the top of his foot.  No official word yet on the extent of the injury.

For a complete match report go to the Battery match review HERE.

Hopefully the win will give the boys some confidence going into the match Friday night against a faltering Dayton Dutch Lions.  Nothing less than a win will do against a team that has given up 22 goals and only scored 8 in 9 matches.

The Battery will take on Orlando City FC on Tuesday, June 21.  Orlando is riding high right now in the league and defeated their first round opponents ASC Stars (another amateur team from Houston Texas) 4-0 in their Open cup match up yesterday.  It will be a return to Charleston of Ian Fuller and College of Charleston standout Justin Fojo.  Look for a tought match up as the Battery defense will have its work cut out for it.

Third round pairings should be announce later today.  The third round is when MLS teams begin their quest for the Open Cup.  check back for updates regularly.

Mikey

More on Regal F.C.

The folks over at www.thecup.us do a fabulous job keeping everyone up to date on the US Open Cup.   Complete with a history of the Open Cup dating back to 1914, Stats and a handy bracket for this years competition, I highly recommend heading to their site and checking it out.

They recently ran an article about the Battery's first round opponents, Regals F.C.  Here is a snippet from the article.

“This is our opportunity to show America what Houston soccer is all about, and this is my opportunity to show the Battery staff that I have what it takes to play professional soccer,” said Sanchez.
Hernandez added, “I feel very confident that we will do well. We are not traveling 18 hours to come back home without a win.”
The Battery’s league and tournament credentials of repeated success do not seem to intimidate Regals.
“We are not any more afraid of the Battery than we were of Puebla FC, FC Dallas or the New Orleans Jesters,” Landaverde said, referring to previous friendlies. “We feel that we can play with anybody. I have a lot of faith in this group and most importantly, they have a lot of faith in each other. Playing upper division teams is how we gauge our progress. This match is entirely different. This match has meaning.”

Read the rest of the article here.

US Open Cup; Battery take on Regals FC

Tuesday night starts the US Open Cup for 2011 where the Charleston Battery take on Regal F.C., an amateur team out of Houston, Texas.    One of the oldest cup competitions in the world, it doesn't garner the attention it deserves from main stream media, but the potential for upsets and the underdog winning will keep most soccer fans interested.

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Charleston has always taken the US Open Cup seriously, advancing to the finals in 2008 against DC United.  A equally fought match that with some controversial calls during the match that the Battery loss 2-1.   The Battery has been successful making it to the later stages of the knock out cup for many years.

This years first round opponent, Regal F.C. is a very organized amateur club out of Houston, Texas.  looking at their roster they seem to have a lot of Mexican and Central American players on the team.  We have been told that they have a hard work ethic and play and attractive style of soccer and they are excited to be playing in the fine facility the Battery have and against a professionally run club in a quality stadium..  With nothing to lose, we expect them to come out hard as making it to this point in the USOC is a big accomplishment for the team.

Charleston has been idle since the last minute 1-0 defeat in Harrisburg nearly 10 days ago.  The boys have had a few day of rest and recuperation but have been training hard.  A few of them said last week they didn't know exactly what to expect of Regal FC but that they take the US Open Cup serious and they want to win.

But who will take the field on Tuesday night?  On one hand,  time between competitive games gives the squad time to heal but it can also cause a squad to loss its edge and become "rusty".  This match could allow Auggie to stretch the legs of the starters and have them ready to go for Friday nights match up against Dayton.

On the other hand, on paper the Battery should win this even if they don't play there starters.  Most of the fringe players will be looking to impress and should put out a hard working performance trying to impress the Coach Anhaueser.

We at No Quarter believe we'll see something in the middle, a mix of starters and fringe players in the opening 45 minutes, followed by a few subs of fringe for starters and depending on score line, some of the starters to come off for a few other players.

As far as injuries, barring any mishaps at practice, Dugoni and Peverly are the only two that wont be available for the match.

The Baud will only be open  on the West side as typical for early round USOC matches, so E10 will be in W10 for the match.  Tickets are only $5 and season ticket holders get complementary tickets to this match which can be picked up at will call on game day or the office Monday or Tuesday.

Battery invades the North and US Open Cup pairings announced

The Battery are on their way to New York City to take on FC New York Friday night.  This is the second match up between the two team with FCNY defeating the Battery at home 1-0.  It was the first Battery defeat at the Baud since 2009.

Depth of the team is always important on back-to-back matches and the return of Andrew Dykstra will be welcome.  Dane Kelly will be unavailable for Friday night's match due to his red card against Harrisburg.  There will be no live video of the match but you can listen in at 1340am or via the web linked at www.charlestonbattery.com

 The Battery will then head to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to take on the City Islanders.  The City Islanders will be looking for revenge after the Battery came back to win the recent match 2-1.

 The match will be aired live on www.USLlive.com 

Also the US Open Cup draw was announced.  The Battery will face Regals F.C. from Houston, Texas in the first round at Blackbaud Stadium on June 14.  Look for more about Regals F.C. here next week.