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USL-1 Charleston Battery

Battery advance via penalties after 1-1 draw with Seattle

August 12, 2008 - USL First Division (USL-1)
Charleston Battery News Release


CHARLESTON, SC -- The Charleston Battery will travel to the nation's capital for its first-ever Lamar Hunt US Open Cup final after knocking off the Seattle Sounders in the tournament's semifinal at Blackbaud Stadium Tuesday.

An announced 3,798 fans were on hand to watch a game that was as tense as it was thrilling, with the Battery advancing after goalkeeper Dusty Hudock parried away the deciding kick in a penalty shootout. The game had ended 1-1 after extra time, with the Battery edging fellow USL side Seattle 4-3 in the shootout.

The defending USL First Division champion Sounders had gone ahead in the 20th minute through an own goal, before the Battery leveled through Randi Patterson in the 33rd. Charleston will now play Major League Soccer's DC United at RFK stadium on September 3 on Fox Soccer Channel.

"I tell you what, we're excited," Battery coach Mike Anhaeuser said. "But we know we're going to have to be prepared. We made it to the finals, and the semifinals are the hardest games to play sometimes. But now anybody's got a shot-it's a fifty-fifty game. We know we've got to go [to DC] and play well."

Both sides had admitted this week that tonight's match would be their biggest of 2008. With a shot at a national trophy and a chance to play an MLS side in the championship game looming for the winner, both showed their intent by playing reserves in league games this past weekend in order to rest starters for tonight.

But despite so much at stake, the contest began anything but guarded. The Battery pressed early, with club leading scorer Patterson getting an early look on goal in the opening minutes.

The visiting Sounders responded by string some passes together in the midfield, with withdrawn striker Roger Levesque tossing passes forward.

Both teams dragged long-range efforts wide, but it was Seattle who broke the deadlock in the 20th minute under fortunate circumstances.

Following a short corner, midfielder Josh Gardner drove in a speculative effort from the left corner of the penalty box, which Battery defender John Wilson tried to defend by sticking out a foot. The shot deflected then past the reach of 'keeper Dusty Hudock for the game's opener.

The Battery searched for a leveler in the 25th minute, with Osvaldo Alonso's curling free kick goal-bound-but there was no-one on the end to nod it home.

The hosts continued to press. Alonso was menacing and creating chances everywhere, while Ian Fuller slashed a shot across the goal in the 30th minute. But the pressure finally bore fruit in the 33rd minute when the Battery leveled through Patterson's close-range effort-a true striker's goal.

The move started when Charleston's Darren Spicer glanced a powerful header toward goal. Seattle 'keeper Chris Eylander could only parry the ball onto the feet of the on-running Patterson inside the six-yard box, and the forward netted easily through traffic.

If the first half was open and flowing, the second period took on a tougher, more physical look as both sides cluttered the field with tight defending.

Charleston took its first bite of the half when Seattle defender Graham Taylor put the Battery attack clean through in the 56th minute, and minutes later Alonso was thrown to the ground by a hefty shoulder barge at the edge of the box that the referee ruled fair. Defender Marco Reda then threw a header over the bar from a set-piece.

Seattle edged back into the game with Levesque and Ciaran O'Brien providing searching balls forward, and had perhaps its biggest chance of the half when Sebastien LeToux-the tournament's top scorer with five goals-picked up a long ball for a one-on-one situation with Hudock in the 71st minute. The French striker shot low, but Hudock did brilliantly to narrow the space and smother the shot.

Battery coach Anhaeuser looked to up his team's attacking tempo by sending on Aaron King up front with Patterson. The partnership was immediately dangerous, with King using his speed to play through Patterson on numerous occasions.

In the 85th minute Alonso threatened after finding space, but Eylander saved comfortably, and the Cuban striker then had a shot charged down as time expired.

But the Sounders looked like they might snatch it at the death when O'Brien capitalized off a rare Charleston error and fed Kenji Treschuk, but the Battery's Wilson-perhaps atoning for his own goal-timed a perfect slide tackle to thwart the move. The game was headed for overtime.

Chances for both teams were plenty as extra time labored on-Seattle substitute Kevin Forrest had a penalty shout early on, while King blasted high over the bar for the Battery. Minutes later Seattle hit the post through O'Brien's well-placed header, which Jason Cascio followed up with a close-range shot that was blocked on the line by the Battery defense.

The hosts looked to reply immediately when Fuller turned in Stephen Armstrong's free kick, but the crowd's collective sigh signaled it had instead dropped the wrong side of the string.

Hudock had to make a few key saves in the second period, but Charleston should have finished off the game in the 112th minute when Mike Richardson drove an-inch perfect cross to King, but the Battery forward flashed his shot wide from barely a yard out.

Now the game was headed for penalty kicks.

Armstrong and Alonso netted first for Battery, as did Taylor for the Sounders. But when Hudock turned away LeToux's effort, the advantage was with the Battery.

Sounders 'keeper Eylander was up to the task and kept his side level with a save off Marco Reda. The Battery's Tim Velton and Akwari then sunk their efforts, and when O'Brien found net with his penalty, it was down to the Hudock to win the game with a save.

Seattle's Forrest stepped up and sent his drive to the left. Hudock picked his spot correctly, sending Charleston to the US Open Cup final for the first time in its history and denying his former club a chance at history.

In his 10th season with Charleston, Hudock began his professional career out of the University of Washington with the Sounders in 1994 as a backup to Marcus Hahnemann, playing four seasons in Seattle (excluding 1996) before joining Charleston in 1999. After Hahnemann's departure, Hudock immediately made his mark on the league, earning the Goalkeeper of the Year honor in 1997, an award he would later win again in 2002 with the Battery.

"Dusty, you know he has that match experience .... he reads [penalty kicks] well, but he'll tell you he guesses sometimes," Anhaeuser said. "But even in training he even guesses the right way 50 percent of the time. It's always nice to have a little experience in goal, especially in penalty kicks.

"We've got one more game now, and I know these guys are going to be excited and put everything on the line."

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