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USL Charleston Battery

August 19 Match Preview

August 19, 2020 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Charleston Battery News Release


CARY, N.C. - Charleston Battery kick off against North Carolina FC at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday night in the return of the Souther Derby. The fan-led Carolina bragging rights derby is a one-and done iteration this year with the winner of Wednesday night's match taking home the 21 year old cup.

Key Storylines

It's the 21st edition of the Southern Derby, albeit it slightly adjusted for the 2020 season as a one-and-done playoff between Charleston and North Carolina FC. Charleston has retained the cup the last 2 years and have never conceded more than 1 goal to NCFC.

Zeiko Lewis, coming off a strong performance in Saturday's match against Atlanta United 2 enters Wednesday's match as the USL Championship's Week 8 Player of the Week after two solid scores against the Atlanta side.

Battery defender Jarad van Schaik will make USL history tonight being just the fourth player in the league to register 150 appearances for a single club. He joins former Battery favorite Taylor Mueller on that list.

Charleston are coming off an exciting come-from-behind, 3-2 win against Atlanta United 2 last Saturday to widen the gap between the Battery and Atlanta in the Group H standings and secure hold of the coveted second place and playoff qualifying spot. It was the second time the Battery have put up 3 against Atlanta and all three goals came unanswered in the second half, including the game-winning goal by Zeiko Lewis in stoppage time.

Wednesday's Storylines

Now the Battery turn to their northern rivals as they travel to WakeMed Soccer park to the 21st edition of the Southern Darby. Beyond the bragging rights of Wednesday's derby match, NCFC is looking to gain some ground in their own Group G standings and supplant Charlotte for second place if they secure 3 points against Charleston.

North Carolina, however, has never scored more than one goal against Charleston in their three year history. But with a stout defense and 3 clean sheets on the year, NCFC hopes to keep the Charleston attack at bay and stem any momentum coming from the Battery's 3 scores Saturday night.

Ones to Watch This Week

NCFC - Andrew Fortune

With a team-leading two goals under his belt in 2020, Fortune has a good habit of being in the right place at the right time. He'll be looking to find the back of the net again on Wednesday night and help break Charleston's streak of holding NCFC to no more than a single score.

NCFC - D.J. Taylor

Leading the back line, the defender Taylor is a constant presence on the pitch being one of only two on the roster playing all minutes so far this season. With league nods as part of the USL Championship Team of the Week in week 6, D.J. will look to cool down Zeiko and the rest of the attack that has really found its form of late.

Charleston - Zeiko Lewis

Coming off a brace in Saturday night's bout against Atlanta, Zeiko will be hungry for more and continue his team-leading scoring campaign for the Battery. On both scores Zeiko showed off his brilliant footing and positioning and will look to replicate that success on Wednesday night. On that recent success he noted, "a lot of it stems from my teammates pushing me. If it wasn't for them, I could easily get into a funk. It's about keeping the right mentality and keep pushing."

Charleston - Jarad van Schaik

With a start Wednesday night, Jarad will register his 150th regular season appearance for the Battery and enter some rarified territory becoming the fourth player in USL Championship history to record that many regular season appearances with a single club. His continued veteran presence in the middle of the back line, paired with Leland Archer, should stand up to the North Carolina attack and give keeper Phil Breno some breathing room. Jarad also looks to be itching for some offensive stats Wednesday night after a late breakaway up the middle against Atlanta.

Coach & Training Notes

The boys took a well-deserved day off after Saturday's late win and hit the training pitch again on Monday and Tuesday before boarding the busses for Cary, NC.

Talking about building on the momentum from the win Saturday, Coach Mike Anhaeuser commented, "you take the second half, after being down 2-0 and taking that positive energy and our good play and movement and then the 3 goals. If we can do that and take that in, we're playing a good defensive team." Noting the matchup in Cary, he added, "They try to limit your chances and make it tough on you, so I think if we can carry that out we're going to be very good."

As of posting, Jesus Ibarra and Kierron Mason are unavailable for Wednesday's match. Nico Rittmeyer, Leland Archer and Jay Bolt are questionable.

Check out the Charleston Battery Statistics



United Soccer League Championship Stories from August 19, 2020


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