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USL Charleston Battery

Battery Begins Cup Quest

June 25, 2002 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Charleston Battery News Release


Charleston SC. The Charleston Battery heads to the Upstate Wednesday, for a 7:30 pm US Open Cup second round match with the D3 Greenville Lions (WTMZ 910 AM). The Battery qualified for the cup competition with a pair of victories over its A-League Southeast Division rival the Charlotte Eagles, in late May. This is the fourth consecutive year that Charleston has gained entry into the prestigious tournament.

Charleston Battery Head Coach, Chris Ramsey,

"This game against Greenville is not going to be an easy one. We played them in pre-season and they gave us a very good match. These are the type of games that supposedly big Clubs dread as they are potential banana skins that can affect the rest of your season, if you do not come out with the right result."

Greenville entered the competition in the first round and advanced to play the Battery by defeating Real Madrid, TX of the United States Amateur Soccer Association. The Lions are currently in third place in the D3 Southern Conference with a record of 5-3-3, 24 points.

Greenville is coached by former Charleston Battery forward, Garth Pollonais. Pollonais played for the Battery back in 1994; he scored 10 goals and added 4 assists in 23 games played. A native of Trinidad, this is his first year in charge of Greenville.

This is only the Lion's second year in existence. In 2001 after a slow start, Greenville surged to the Championship game where they lost 1-0 to the Utah Blitz.

The winner of this match will host Major League Soccer's Colorado Rapids in the third round, on Wednesday, July 17. The Rapids roster includes US Men's National Team World Cup midfielder, Pablo Mastroeni.

The Charleston Battery has enjoyed considerable success in the Open Cup over the last four years. In 1999 the Battery advanced to the semi-final stage of the competition, where it lost to Major League Soccer's Colorado Rapids. That Cup run also included a memorable 4-3 OT victory over DC United.

In 2001 Charleston again showed strongly in the Open Cup, defeating MLS's Metrostars by a score of four goals to one in the second round. The Battery bowed out of the competition in the third round, losing 2-1 to MLS's New England Revolution in a match played at Foxboro Stadium in Boston.

Dating back to 1914, the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup is the oldest cup competition in United States soccer and among the oldest in the world. Open to all affiliated amateur and professional teams in the United States, the annual US Open Cup is an 89-year old single elimination tournament. In 2001 Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy won the Open Cup, the last A-League team to win it was the Rochester Raging Rhinos in 1999.

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from June 25, 2002


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