USL-1 Charleston Battery

Battery beats Portland Timbers

Published on July 22, 2007 under USL First Division (USL-1)
Charleston Battery News Release


CHARLESTON, SC-The Charleston Battery earned three much needed points Sunday night with a 2-0 win over league-leading Portland Timbers at Blackbaud Stadium. Byron Alvarez put the Battery ahead in the 26th minute, and Luke Vercollone put the game out of reach in the 75th minute after the Timbers went a man down.

Alvarez's goal was his eight of the season for the Battery, and made him the league's leading scorer on the season. Alvarez, who spent four years with Portland before joining the Battery at the beginning of the season is Portland's all-time leading scorer.

The win moved the Battery to 6-8-5, 23 points, and ended Portland's seven-game win streak.

The Battery, led by Alvarez and newly fit Ian Fuller, pushed the attack on a weary Portland back line who had played, winning 1-0 at Atlanta less than 24 hours earlier.

The pressure paid off. Twice in the first ten minutes Lazo Alavanja put Alvarez through against Portland's reserve goalkeeper Bayard Elfvin, who came up with the ball both times.

In the seventh minute, Fuller nearly put the Battery in the lead, getting on the end of an Alvarez through ball, beating a defender before the ball got away from him and was cleared to safety.

The Battery suffered a setback in the 14th minute when Fuller pulled up lame, removing himself from the game with continued hamstring problems. With Jordan Hughes replacing Fuller, the Battery continued to push the

attack.

In the 20th minute Gordon Chin missed high from inside off the six-yard box, and Alvarez had a goal called back after sneaking back from an offside position before he became involved in the play.

Six minutes later he made sure his effort counted banging in his own rebound. The play began with Alvarez who won the ball at midfield and pushed it upfield, finding Chin at the top of the penalty area. Chin played a perfectly weighted one-touch pass back to Alvarez, who pushed the ball past one defender, and between the legs of the charging Elfvin. As the ball squirted out behind Elfvin Alvarez fought off a challenge from a defender and poked the ball in for the goal.

Mike Richardson nearly doubled the score in the 39th minute; Alvarez beat the Timber's offside trap and found Richardson inside the penalty area. After a controlling touch Richardson's left-footed blast was swatted away by a diving Elfvin.

Looking for a little more offensive punch, Timbers coach Gavin Wilkinson inserted the Timber's leading scorer Bryan Jordan. His stay was short lived, however. After earning his first caution at the hour mark, he was dismissed six minutes later after getting into an off-the-ball scuffle with Tim Karalexis, leaving the Timbers a man down for the remainder of the match.

The Battery put the game away in the 75th minute with Vercollone's clinical finish from inside ten yards after Portland failed to clear the ball from the front of the goal. The play began on the right side when Chin beat two Timber players to the ball. His cross found second half substitute Armando Romero on the left side of the goal, whose shot slammed into the shins of a Portland defender. Alvarez follow up met the same fate, before the ball fell to Vercollone's feet, for his first goal in league play on the season.

Battery Notes:

The shutout was Battery goalkeeper Dusty Hudock's fifth of the season. Center back Kevin Nylen made his first appearance for the Battery since breaking his leg in preseason, playing 90 minutes in the win.

The Battery is in action again on July 31 at Blackbaud Stadium to face Miami F.C., and August 7 in the U.S. Open Cup when the Battery plays host to F.C. Dallas.

Check out the Charleston Battery Statistics

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USL First Division Stories from July 22, 2007


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