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USL-1 Charleston Battery

2004 Battery Schedule Released

January 8, 2004 - USL First Division (USL-1)
Charleston Battery News Release


Charleston, SC. The 2004 A-League Schedule was released today, finalizing a 28 game regular season for each of the 16 A-League Clubs. The Charleston Battery will open the defense of its A-League crown away to the Richmond Kickers on April 17; the Battery's home opener is set for Saturday, April 24 vs. the Richmond Kickers. There are two expansion teams entering the A-League for the 2004 season. The Puerto Rico Islanders will compete in the Eastern Conference along with the Charleston Battery while Canada's Edmonton Aviators will join the Western Conference.

2004 Charleston Battery Schedule

DAY DATE OPPONENT VENUE TIME (ET)
Saturday April 17, 2004 Richmond Kickers Away 7:00 PM
Saturday April 24, 2004 Richmond Kickers Home 7:30 PM
Friday April 30, 2004 Montreal Impact Home 7:30 PM
Saturday May 8, 2004 Atlanta Silverbacks Away 6:00 PM
Tuesday May 11, 2004 Virginia Beach Mariners Home 7:30 PM
Saturday May 15, 2004 Atlanta Silverbacks Home 7:30 PM
Friday May 21, 2004 Puerto Rico Islanders Away 8:00 PM
Sunday May 23, 2004 Puerto Rico Islanders Away 5:00 PM
Saturday May 29, 2004 Atlanta Silverbacks Home 7:30 PM
Friday June 4, 2004 Portland Timbers Home 8:00 PM
Saturday June 12, 2004 Richmond Kickers Away 7:00 PM
Sunday June 20, 2004 Puerto Rico Islanders Home 6:00 PM
Tuesday June 22, 2004 Virginia Beach Mariners Away 7:30 PM
Saturday June 26, 2004 Seattle Sounders Home 7:30 PM
Wednesday June 30, 2004 TBD TBD TBD US Open Cup 3rd Round
Saturday July 3, 2004 Puerto Rico Islanders Home 7:30 PM
Thursday July 8, 2004 Toronto Lynx Away 7:30 PM
Sunday July 11, 2004 Rochester Raging Rhinos Away TBD
Monday July 12, 2004 Syracuse Salty Dogs Away 7:30 PM
Saturday July 24, 2004 Syracuse Salty Dogs Home 7:30 PM
Wednesday July 28, 2004 Montreal Impact Away 7:30 PM
Friday July 30, 2004 Atlanta Silverbacks Away 7:45 PM
Friday August 6, 2004 Richmond Kickers Home 7:30 PM
Sunday August 8, 2004 Rochester Raging Rhinos Away TBD
Monday August 9, 2004 Syracuse Salty Dogs Away 7:30 PM
Friday August 13, 2004 Rochester Raging Rhinos Home 7:30 PM
Friday August 20, 2004 Virginia Beach Mariners Away 8:00 PM
Sunday August 22, 2004 Virginia Beach Mariners Home 6:00 PM
Sunday August 29, 2004 Toronto Lynx Home 6:00 PM

All times - Eastern Standard Time

All Charleston Battery home matches will be played at Blackbaud Stadium on Daniel Island. Opened in 1999, Blackbaud Stadium was the first privately financed soccer specific stadium in the United States. The state-of-the-art facility includes a host of fan-friendly features including the popular FUNZONE, an interactive children's playground.

Newsradio 730 WSC, "Charleston's Home for News and Talk" will be the new home of the Charleston Battery radio show for the 2004 and 2005 seasons. All Charleston Battery away games (regular season, Open Cup and post season) will be broadcast live. Play-by-play will once again be handled by Andrew Bell who enters his 6th year as the voice of the Charleston Battery.

2004 Alignment & Playoff Format

The 16-team A-League will remain with a two-conference format while eliminating the division format within. The Eastern Conference will be comprised of nine clubs while the Western will include seven.

The defending A-League champion Charleston Battery will join the Atlanta Silverbacks, Richmond Kickers, Montreal Impact, first-year club Puerto Rico Islanders, Rochester Raging Rhinos, Syracuse Salty Dogs, Toronto Lynx, and the Virginia Beach Mariners in the Eastern Conference.

The Western Conference will consist of another first-year team in the Edmonton Aviators, along with Calgary, the Milwaukee Wave United, Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders, Vancouver Whitecaps and defending Western Conference champion Minnesota Thunder.

2004 A-League Playoff Format Set

The 2004 A-League playoff format will remain relatively the same with the top four teams from each conference advancing to the postseason and playing in a two-leg, aggregate score series in the conference semifinals and conference final to determine who will advance to the A-League Championship.

"Although the disparity in the number of teams competing in each Conference creates the challenge of selecting a playoff structure equitable to teams from both Conferences, we are excited to have arrived at a format consistent with recent A-League seasons," said A-League director Tim Holt. "Selecting the top four teams from each of the two Conferences puts an emphasis on the importance of success throughout the regular season, as well as increasing the likelihood of the added drama when teams face their rivals in the race for the A-League Championship."

The Conference Semifinals series will be September 3 and 5 with the Conference Final series being held September 10 and 12. The semifinals will feature the fourth seed against the top seed with the second and third seeds squaring off. The A-League Championship will be held the weekend of September 18 and will be broadcast on Fox Sports World.

2004 US Open Cup

Based on the Tournament format for the 2004 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, there will be eight (8) qualification slots for the ten (10) US Based A-League teams. As the current A-League champion the Charleston Battery is awarded an automatic berth into the 2004 tournament and will enter in Round Three (June 30).

Check out the Charleston Battery Statistics

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