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USL Charleston Battery

Battery Forward Dane Kelly Get 3rd USL Team of the Week

July 14, 2015 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Charleston Battery News Release


Charleston Battery Forward Dane Kelly
Charleston Battery Forward Dane Kelly
(Charleston Battery, Credit: Vin Duffey/Charleston Battery)

CHARLESTON-- Battery star Dane Kelly, a 24-year-old Jamaican forward in his fifth year with the club, finished second in the balloting for USL's Week 18 Player of the Week, earning his team-leading third start on the league's Team of the Week.

"Its well-deserved," said Battery Coach and General Manager Mike Anhaeuser, who recruited Kelly from Jamaican Premier League club Tivoli Gardens F.C. before the 2011 season. "He's had two great performances recently, and just missed out twice on being named Player of the Week.

On Wednesday, July 8, Kelly demolished the Harrisburg City Islanders in the first 16 minutes of the Battery's only visit to City Island this season. Kelly alternated left- and right-footed finishes as he put away consecutive Ricky Garbanzo assists at the left post of Nick Noble's goal to give Charleston an insurmountable 2-0 lead. He would later assist former Tivoli teammate Navion Boyd on his first USL goal of 2015 as the Battery ran away with the match -- and their three-game season series with Harrisburg -- 4-0.

Two weeks earlier at Blackbaud Stadium, Kelly hung two goals on the City Islanders in a 4-1 victory that earned him his second 2015 Team of the Week start. He had previously joined Quinton Griffith, Taylor Mueller and Jarad van Schaik on the Week 1 Team of the Week.

Kelly scored in all three Battery matches against Harrisburg, leading Charleston to a rare 3-0-0 sweep of the City Islanders. Five of his eight USL goals were scored against Harrisburg.

Charleston's No. 9 finished with double-digit USL goals and led the team in scoring in 2013 (11 goals) and 2014 (10), earning recognition last season as Charleston's Attacking Player of the Year and MVP, in addition to being named to the USL PRO All-League First Team. Including his play in the U.S. Open Cup -- where he was named Player of the Third Round -- Kelly has scored 10 goals and logged three assists this season.

"He takes his chances better," said Anhaeuser, who has watched Kelly grow from a skinny unknown into one of the top players in USL. "He's just a stronger and better all-around player."

Twelve Battery players have been named to the USL Team of the Week this season, with three of them (Kelly, Mueller and van Schaik) being voted to the honor three times. Only Kelly, however, has three starting spots on 2015 Teams of the Week to his credit. Five others -- Quinton Griffith, Heviel Cordoves, Justin Portillo, Emmanuel Adjetey and Ricky Garbanzo -- have made the weekly team twice.

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Images from this story

Charleston Battery Forward Dane Kelly
Charleston Battery Forward Dane Kelly
(Vin Duffey/Charleston Battery)		   



United Soccer League Championship Stories from July 14, 2015


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