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USL Charleston Battery

Battery Host Louisville in Top-Of-The-Standings Clash on Saturday

April 21, 2023 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Charleston Battery News Release


CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Charleston Battery are set to host Louisville City FC on Sat., April 22, at Patriots Point, kicking off at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Saturday night clash will pit the No. 1 (Charleston) and No. 2 (Louisville) teams in the Eastern Conference against each other, right in the confines of the Lowcountry.

The Battery gave the eventual USL Championship Final runners-up a tough test the last time Louisville visited South Carolina in a 1-1 draw in April 2022. Louisville hold an edge in the series in the past six meetings, with a 3W-1L-2D record against the Black and Yellow. The hosts will look to turn the tide in the series on Saturday.

Charleston enter Saturday's contest after completing an undefeated spell of four wins in 12 days to start April. The exhaustive stretch ended with road matches at Tampa Bay and at Tulsa, which the Battery won 1-2 in both. The Black and Yellow now sit atop the Eastern Conference standings with a 4W-0L-2D record (14 pts) and will aim to hold their spot through the weekend's round of action.

Louisville arrive in the Lowcountry looking to reclaim their status as the top team in the conference. The perennial powerhouse club has won back-to-back matches and most recently downed the defending champions, San Antonio FC, who bested them last November in the USL Championship Final, winning 1-0 at home on Saturday. Louisville currently hold a 4W-2L-0D record (12 pts).

Saturday's contest will be a battle of strengths, Charleston are tied for the most goals scored in the league while Louisville have the second-most clean sheets so far this season.

Wilson Harris is a player to keep an eye on for Louisville. The forward leads Louisville with two goals in three appearances, including the match-winner against San Antonio in the last match.

Trey Muse is one to watch for Charleston. The shot-stopper put on an admirable showing against Tulsa by tallying a season-high six saves, with four on shots inside the box, to preserve the Battery's victory. Additionally, Muse is a native of Louisville and will have a chance to go up against his hometown's club.

Saturday could feature representation from the USMNT, as Louisville's Joshua Wynder will be fresh from the senior national team's camp in the week leading up to the game.

The Battery are off to their best start to a season since 2015, when the club went undefeated through seven matches, and will look to match that mark this weekend.

The match on Saturday will be the 16th all-time meeting between Louisville and Charleston.

FROM THE TRAINING GROUND

Head Coach Ben Pirmann and defender AJ Paterson discussed the upcoming Louisville match, with key quotes to follow.

Coach Pirmann on preparations in training this week...

It's been a good week, focus is good. I think we always want to make sure we're focused on details. We've had a pretty good start to the season, but starting Saturday, we have three games in eight days. So, we want to make sure that we're dialed in. Everybody is going to be called upon over these next few games again. We're excited about playing a really tough Louisville team, among the best clubs in the league.

Coach Pirmann on what to expect from Louisville...

Louisville, if you look at their last three matches, they have not conceded. Last match, they played the defending champions and really it was one-way traffic for them, they implemented their game plan very well. They've got great experience, great players, great coaches. So, we've got to find that balance of continuing to improve, continuing to make sure that we're becoming a better club, but also fighting like crazy to try to get three points.

We're at home and, hopefully, we can use the supporters to tilt it in our favor, but it will be a really tough, 50-50 match.

Paterson on the week leading up to Saturday's match...

We're very happy to come away with all those points after a lot of games in a short period of time. But, we know Louisville are coming here to defeat us and we're going to do whatever we can to win the game. We're going to continue to fight and continue to play our football, that's what's got us to this point so far this season.

Paterson on the squad's development with a full month of games played together...

I think that we learned that there's no quit in us, two games with goals super late. It just shows that we're not happy with just a draw, we're going to go out there and try to win every single game, no matter what minute. Everyone knows Louisville are a very good squad, but we're not going to be scared, we're going to come in confident, we're going to be ready for them and we're going to fight.

MATCH INFO

Charleston Battery vs. Louisville City FC

Saturday, April 22 - 7:30 p.m. ET Kickoff

Patriots Point

HOW TO WATCH:

Only a very limited amount of tickets are still available for Saturday's match and can be purchased via SeatGeek.com, the Battery's exclusive digital ticketing provider.

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

Check out the Charleston Battery Statistics

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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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