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USL Charleston Battery

Battery Head to Tampa Bay for First Bout with Rowdies

July 1, 2021 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Charleston Battery News Release


CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Battery are back on the road to take on Tampa Bay Rowdies on Friday, July 2, at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. EST. The match is the first meeting of four between the East Coast rivals.

Key Storylines

The Battery are coming off a 3-0 victory last Saturday over Loudoun United as they face a division-leading Rowdies side.

The Battery were the only team in USL Championship to hand the Rowdies a defeat last season, and did so three times.

Looking at the Atlantic Division table, Tampa Bay are in first with a record of 7-2-0 (21 pts) and Charleston are in sixth with a record of 3-2-2 (11 pts). The Rowdies currently hold the most points in the league.

The 2020 series between the two clubs was among the hottest in the league. The Battery were the only team to beat Tampa Bay during the regular season and did so three times. The Rowdies got the last laugh, however, narrowly beating the Black and Yellow in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Stavros Zarokostas enjoyed success against the Rowdies, scoring three of his five goals against Tampa Bay.

Tampa Bay evenly traded wins and losses in their last four matches and are coming off 0-1 road victory over Hartford Athletic. Sebastian Guenzatti scored the lone goal of the game to earn the Rowdies the full three points. Hartford had a chance to equalize when they were awarded a penalty for a foul in the 55th minute, but Juan Obregon missed high over the crossbar from the spot. Tampa Bay goalkeeper Evan Louro tallied his fourth clean sheet of the year in the victory.

Charleston are also fresh off a victory in their 3-0 win over Loudoun United FC. Stavros Zarokostas notched his second goal of the season and was followed by a brace from Nicque Daley to put the game away. Battery goalkeeper Joe Kuzminsky had two saves on the night to earn his second clean sheet of the season. The match featured the first victory by the home team in the Charleston-Loudoun series, as the away team had one the prior three meetings.

With the Rowdies and the Battery coming off victories, both will look to keep their respective momentum going in a crucial divisional tie. The Battery lead the all-time series with a 7-4-2 record over Tampa Bay but the match-ups are never short of interest and intrigue. The fixture will be the first since meeting at Al Lang Stadium in the 2020 Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Ones to Watch This Week

Tampa Bay Rowdies - Sebastian Guenzatti

Guenzatti has picked up where he left off last year, leading the Rowdies again in scoring with seven goals so far. The Uruguayan striker has one assist one the year, which is tied for the lead with six other of his teammates. Guenzatti scored what proved to be the match-winning goal over Hartford in their last match. Last season saw Guenzatti score only once against the Battery last season, a 2-0 victory on July 31, 2020.

Charleston Battery - Stavros Zarokostas

Zarokostas got the scoring going in the last match for the Battery when he tallied the 10,000th regular-season goal in USL Championship history. The goal was the first of three for the Black and Yellow en route to a triumphant win over Loudoun. Zarokostas co-leads the club with two goals on the year and has been a high-energy presence in the Battery attack. Stavros will face a side he was productive against during his rookie campaign in 2020, finding the back of the net thrice against Tampa Bay. Zarokostas will aim to keep the momentum from his previous matches against the Rowdies into Friday.

Coach & Training Notes

The Battery returned to training on Monday following a rest day on Sunday after the victory over Loudoun.

Head Coach Michael Anhaeuser was pleased with the team's performance on Saturday.

"Overall, a good performance against a team that's trying to press and score goals," said Anhaeuser. "We were able to get through that first five [to] ten minutes of their pressure and then caught them on the counter-attack."

Friday's match will be the first of the season against Tampa Bay, who have been among the top performers so far this season.

"The biggest thing is we've got to get pressure on their back three," said Anhaeuser. "They sit back, they move the ball well, they possess it, they play a slow possession style, not as quick as Loudoun.

"[Tampa Bay] really have good players, experienced players who can cause problems, so you can't give them time and space, especially in the final third because they can make you pay."

Among the players looking to temper Tampa Bay's attack is defender Patrick Hogan, who has four starts already in his rookie campaign.

"The guys have been really helping me out [in the back line], trying to give me feedback and good criticism to help me in this new position in the back three," said Hogan. "[Tampa Bay] are really good out wide, going forward they're extremely fluid and fast, it's going to be a key focus of us on Friday] to stop that."

Hogan is one of several rookies to find significant playing time this season and spoke about the transition to the next level with his fellow first-year players.

"It's great, working with Joel [Bunting] and Ben [Di Rosa] and some of these new guys that are coming in," said Hogan. "We're all in the same boat, we're on the same level, just transitioning from college. It's really good to work with them because they're going through it as well."

To secure the three points at Al Lang Stadium, Hogan discussed making sure set pieces are squared away to possibly make the difference.

"I think it's going to be key for us to work on set-pieces as well, I think with the size of our squad, I think it's going to be really difficult for any team to handle us," said Hogan. "If we can convert on set pieces and stay extremely solid in the back with our positioning and starting positions, I think we can find success."

As of posting, Logan Gdula, Jarad van Schaik, Mauro Cichero and Nico Rittmeyer are out. Zeiko Lewis is off on international duty with the Bermuda national team for the first round of the Preliminary Round for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

MATCH INFO

Tampa Bay Rowdies vs. Charleston Battery

Friday, July 2 - 7:30 p.m. EST Kickoff - Al Lang Stadium

How to Watch: ESPN+

The Battery will also be kicking off the holiday weekend with a watch party at Madra Rua Irish Pub in Park Circle starting at 6:30 p.m.

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from July 1, 2021


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