USL Charleston Battery

Battery Defender Taylor Mueller Wins USL Player of the Week

Published on April 12, 2016 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Charleston Battery News Release


Charleston Battery Defender Taylor Mueller (Left) and Midfielder Justin Portillo
Charleston Battery Defender Taylor Mueller (Left) and Midfielder Justin Portillo
(Charleston Battery, Credit: Dan Conover)

CHARLESTON - Battery defender Taylor Mueller's clutch offensive production in Saturday's 2-1 win over Wilmington Hammerheads earned him his first-ever USL Player of the Week honor Tuesday.

Mueller received 47 percent of the vote in this week's USL independent media balloting, topping second-place finisher Sean Okoli, the FC Cincinnati forward who finished second with 32 percent.

The 27-year-old center back from the University of Washington led the undefeated Battery (2-0-1) to its second win of the year by assisting on Romario Williams' second-minute goal and heading in the match-winner in the 84th. For the third game in a row, the Battery defense didn't surrender a goal from the run of play, allowing only a set-piece score in the 32nd minute. It was the Battery's first goal the Battery had conceded in 2016.

Mueller earned two starting nods and three appearances on 2015 USL Teams of the Week, and was a 2016 USL TotW starter in Week 1 after a standout performance while playing out of position at right back in Charleston's 1-0 season-opening win over FC Cincinnati.

The Washington native spent his first three seasons with the club as a versatile utility defender. In 2015 he emerged as one of USL's elite center backs, forming arguably the top central-defensive partnership in the league with 2015 All-USL defender Shawn Ferguson.

In the game's second minute, Mueller leaped to reach a long throw by fullback O'Brian "Obi" Woodbine at the near post and snapped it past Wilmington goalkeeper John Smits. The ball struck the crossbar and bounced on the goal line without crossing it, creating a point-blank finish for forward Williams.

The game-winning sequence in the 84th minute began with central midfielder Justin Portillo winning a corner, which he then served up as an in-swinging ball to Mueller. The center back made a perfectly timed near-post run, creating just enough space on his marker to snap his header hard through the defensive cluster.

The win kept the Battery tied for first-place in the USL Eastern Conference and opened a lead in the 2016 Southern Derby Cup race. Charleston is the defending 2015 Southern Derby Cup champion.

Coach Mike Anhaeuser called the game-winner "beautiful," and praised the team for once again showing character in a pressure-packed situation. "Taylor, he's fantastic at getting on those."

Mueller's Player of the Week award "is showing that he's stepping up," Anhaeuser said. "It's doing something special, like scoring a goal or shutting someone down. Hopefully we'll get more defenders on the team of the week every week. But it's certainly well-deserved."

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Images from this story

Charleston Battery Defender Taylor Mueller (Left) and Midfielder Justin Portillo
Charleston Battery Defender Taylor Mueller (Left) and Midfielder Justin Portillo
(Dan Conover)		   



United Soccer League Championship Stories from April 12, 2016


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