Battery announce DC as first team in the 2012 Carolina Challenge Cup

With the MLS season winding down and the USL season more than two month in, we have some news about the 2012 Carolina Challenge Cup.   DC United will return for the annual preseason tournament which will take place between February 25 to March 3.  This will be United's seventh visit to Charleston having won the round-robin tournament the last two years in a row.

It will also be a chance for the Battery to take back the Coffee Pot Cup.

Speculation about the remaining teams participating will continue until the Battery front office announce the two other MLS teams but we can eliminate a few teams.

Earlier in the week Walt Disney World announced its Pro Soccer Classic which will feature eight teams during the same week as the CCC.  So far, the teams announced are Toronto FC, Sporting KC and Orlando City Lions.  That press release mentioned five MLS teams will participate in that tournament so it is safe to say neither SKC or TFC will make the trip to the Lowcountry.

The Colorado Rapids would seem out as well as they have announced plans to play in Hawaii between February 24 to 26

Also looking at the CONCACAF Champions league calendar, the first leg of the quarterfinals will take place on March 5 or 6.  Their are three remaining MLS teams still in the CCL:  LA, Seattle and Toronto.  While Toronto is playing the week prior in Orlando, it remains to be seen if Seattle or LA would crowd their schedules with so much on the line.

 Keep your eye here at No Quarter for more news and rumors.

Former Battery players Neagle and Alonso key for Seattle's push for MLS Cup

In 2008 Osvaldo Alonso was USL's Rookie of the Year and the Battery's MVP of the year.  In 2009 he became a key player in MLS's expansion team, the Seattle Sounders.

Lamar Neagle came to Charleston in 2010 and went on to help the Battery win its third championship.  In 2011 he joined the Sounders, scoring a couple pivitoal goals and racking up more minutes than he thought he would get this season.

Saturday starts the Sounders push for the 2011 MLS Cup and both Neagle and Ozzie will be playing an important roll as they take on Real Salt Lake (Fox Soccer Channel, 10:00pm EST)

Ozzie was recently lauded by Steve Kelley in the Seattle Times as "playing like a MVP"  and the comments on the article show how much they love Ozzie in Seattle.


Lamar was featured on MLSsoccer as the go to guy after Seattle's Mauro Rosales was ruled out of the match with RSL with a strained MCL.

RSL's Rio Tino Stadium has become a fortress for the home team.  But Neagle cracked the wall when his goal sealed the the first win for a visiting team in 29 matches.

 

Good luck to both of you.  The Battery faithful will be wishing you the best!

Where are they now: Cole Peverley

New Zealand International and Battery midfielder Cole Peverley is now playing with Canterbury United.

Peverley is expecting to return to the Battery for the 2012 season.

Cantebury United play in New Zealand's ASB Premeir League.

Where are they Now? Brandon Massie

A recent article on the Potomac Soccer Wire Battery player Brandon Massie will be playing with newly fromed Norfolk SharX in the USL indoor league (MISL)

Brandon originally hails from the area and he was excited about being close to home.

"I was excited to learn that Norfolk might have a team and I knew I wanted to come home and give it a shot. Now that I've made it, I'm so happy to be a part of this community again. I am also happy that my parents will be able to see me play again. I've been playing in Charleston for two seasons and with them at the games in Norfolk it will be just like old times!"

You can learn more about the Norfolk Sharx by visiting their website www.norfolksharx.com

Good luck to Brandon!

Where are they now: Nicki Paterson

Charleston Battery midfielder Nicki Paterson looks set to join the Baltimore Blast, an indoor team playing in USL's Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) during the off season.   Their season runs from November 12 to March 5 and it looks like they have video streaming for the home matches at least.  All indication point toward Nicki returning to the Battery for the 2012 Season.

Look for an official announcement from the Baltimore Blast soon.  Here is the Blast website for more info 

Where are they now: JC Mack

The Return of the Mack.

Last season, JC Mack was sidelined after showing promise down the wings for the Battery.  His recovery has been slow but Mack is a fighter and has been working hard to be ready to be back on the pitch when the season starts up in 2012. 

Here is a video he put together and in case you didn't know, JC is a bit of musician as well.  I'm pretty sure he wrote the rap and put together the samples for his latest video.

 

"All men are created equal, some work harder in preseason!"  

We'll be keeping you updated with

South Carolina get a new club

While No Quarter has been quite since the Charleston Battery season ended we aim to remedy that with a few Battery updates and news from around the league starting with the announcement of a new PDL team in South Carolina. 

The United Soccer Leagues announced today that the Palmetto FC Bantams have joined the PDL and will begin play in the 2012 season. The new club will be based in Greenwood, S.C.


Local business leader Mark Riddle, Lander University soccer coach Van Taylor, and Greenwood attorney Aaron Taylor have spearheaded the development of the franchise.

Palmetto FC will play a 16-game schedule between the months of May and July, and will play most of its eight home matches at Lander University’s soccer field in Greenwood, located in west central South Carolina. Riddle will be the team’s president, while coaches and other team officials have yet to be named.

The club chose the name Palmetto to draw support from a wider area of South Carolina, the Palmetto State. Palmetto FC has formed a partnership with Bradford City of England’s League Two and will share the same logo and team colors as Bradford City. The partnership includes the possibility of exhibition matches.

The Bantams will have several South Carolina schools to draw from including strong smaller school programs like Lander, Erskine, Newberry, North Greenville, Anderson, USC Aiken, Francis Marion, Coker and Limestone, to bigger schools including Winthrop, USC Upstate, Presbyterian, Coastal Carolina, Furman, Charleston, the University of South Carolina and Clemson.

The club’s first tryout is tentatively planned for December.

Read the entire USL press release here

With a several highly competitive college soccer programs in the state, a PDL team should be able to draw a large pool of players while giving the students opportunities to train throughout the summer.   Best of luck to the Bantams!