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USL Charleston Battery

Battery Head to Oklahoma for Clash with Tulsa

April 14, 2023 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Charleston Battery News Release


CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Charleston Battery will travel to face FC Tulsa on Sat., April 15, to close out their April road stand. Kickoff at ONEOK Field is set for 6 p.m. ET.

Charleston and Tulsa have only met twice before, both times in 2022. The Battery won the inaugural meeting 1-0 with Augi Willaims scoring the match-winner at Patriots Point. Tulsa would win the reverse fixture 2-1 later in the season. The Battery will look for their first win at ONEOK Field on Saturday.

Tulsa have had among the better starts to the season in the Eastern Conference and currently sit fourth in the standings with a 1W-2L-3D record (6 points). The Oklahoma outfit, however, were defeated in their last league match, 2-1 away to San Diego Loyal SC. They'll be aiming to snap a three-match winless streak in their return to home on Saturday.

Charleston arrive in Oklahoma with ambitions to extend their five-match unbeaten run in league play that has landed them first in the Eastern Conference standings with a 3W-0L-2D record (11 points). The Battery defeated the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Wednesday 1-2 thanks to a brace from Augi Williams, scoring the match-winner in the final minute of stoppage time. Williams has scored four goals in league action so far this season, the second-most in the USL Championship.

Rodrigo da Costa is a player to keep an eye on for Tulsa. The veteran playmaker leads the club with three goals, which ranks tied for third-most in the league.

Arturo Rodriguez is one to watch for the Battery. Since signing with the Battery a few weeks ago, Rodriguez has made an impact in his past two matches. He scored the match-winning goal against Hartford Athletic and assisted Williams' match-winning goal at Tampa Bay.

Hosts Tulsa are unbeaten in home USL Championship matches this season with one win and two draws from their three contests at ONEOK Field.

Charleston will wrap up their two-game road stand on Saturday and will return to Patriots Point for three home matches (April 22, 25 and 29) to close out the month.

FROM THE ROAD

Head Coach Ben Pirmann previewed the upcoming Tulsa contest while in Oklahoma, with key quotes to follow.

Coach Pirmann on the recent run of form for the Battery...

It''s been going well, but it's still very early. We're only five games into the regular season, plus a U.S. Open Cup game, but there's so much room for improvement. That's our focus right now. We are not focused on where we are in the standings, we have a very tough Tulsa team tomorrow and every week is a new challenge. We very easily could have tied Hartford 2-2 and Tampa had a chance to win it, but [those victories] show that we want to be fearless and we want to be selfless. We want to enable and empower the players to be themselves and we want them to be able and willing to go for it.

Coach Pirmann on what to expect from Tulsa...

Tulsa are very good in the build-up phase, they're very good in possession and comfortable and confident on the ball. Tulsa have one of the top two or three players, if not the best player in the league this year, in Rodrigo de Costa, he's special. So, we have to make sure we're always aware of him. It's going to be a tough game.

Coach Pirmann on wrapping up the slate of four games in 12 days on Saturday...

We look at it as an opportunity to get better, we're excited and ready to go. For those two hours on Saturday, we have to be willing to suffer. We want to make sure we continue to do what we do while finding the balance of fresh legs. But, it's going to be a tough game, so as things start to fade at the end, we have to make sure we still have high energy and are ready and willing to go for it.

MATCH INFO

Charleston Battery at FC Tulsa

Saturday, April 15 - 6 p.m. ET Kickoff

ONEOK Field

HOW TO WATCH:

All Battery matches will stream on ESPN+, domestically, and through the league's YouTube channel for free, internationally.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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