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USL Charleston Battery

Battery Nearing Opening Night Roster

March 19, 2015 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Charleston Battery News Release


CHARLESTON, SC - Charleston Battery's 2015 regular season roster began rounding into shape during the week leading up to the USL season opener, with 12 players returning from 2014, one player returning from a previous season, one new veteran and three rookie professionals.

The club is still working to secure work visa approval for two foreign players, one of whom also requires ITC approval before he can be listed as eligible. And while two players from Houston Dynamo have been training with the Battery since last week, the loans required for them to become eligible to play on Saturday have not yet cleared. As an affiliate, the Dynamo is required by Major League Soccer to loan a minimum of four players to Charleston during the 2015 season. The club is also working toward approval of an amateur contract with a fourth rookie.

Per club and league policy, terms of player contracts are not published.

Nine 2014 Battery players either entered 2015 under contract or were returning players who signed deals early in the process. They are: Goalkeeper Odisnel Cooper; defenders Taylor Mueller, Shawn Ferguson andQuinton Griffith; midfielders Jarad van Schaik, Dante Marini, Zach Prince and Justin Portillo; and forward Dane Kelly. All have been primary starters during the preseason.

This core group has been joined by several other groups of players:

Ricky Garbanzo

ROOKIES: Forrest Lasso, an All-American out of Wofford College, is a 6-5 center back from Raleigh who started 71 matches for the Terriers over a four-year career;Kevin Corby, a goalkeeper from University of Missouri at Kansas City who missed most of his senior season in 2013 due to injury. He's played indoor, but this is his first professional outdoor soccer contract; and forward Ricardo "Ricky" Garbanzo, a Rock Hill player who became one of the most decorated stars in Coastal Carolina University history. Garbanzo followed his Big South All-Rookie first season with three appearances on the Big South All-Conference team, and was named the conference's Attacking Player of the Year last fall.

RETURNING 2014 PLAYERS: Midfielder Maikel Chang re-signed for his third year with the club, as did fellow Cuban Heviel Cordoves, a forward. Emmanuel Adjetey, a fullback from Ghana who spent part of the 2013 and 2014 seasons on loan to the Battery from Vancouver Whitecaps' PDL club, returns for the full season for the first time under contract to the Battery.

RETURNING PLAYER FROM 2013: Summerville native Austin Savage - a star forward at Stratford High School and Clemson University who made the Battery squad in 2013 but missed the cut last year - looked like a long-shot when he returned to the Open Trials in January. But Savage, who devoted himself to improving his fitness and skills last year - stood out during the preseason and earned his way back into the Battery's plans, scoring game-winning goals against Houston Dynamo and his alma mater, Clemson.

Sebastien Thuriere

NEW VETERAN: Central midfielder Sebastien Thuriere holds the distinction of playing two years of USL PRO soccer - only to have his teams either fold or self-relegate at the end of the season (VSI Tampa Bay in 2013, Dayton Dutch Lions in 2014). Though his teams struggled, Thuiere built a solid reputation among league GMs, and was an offseason target for several clubs.

Coach Mike Anhaeuser - who is also the team's general manager - is hopeful that the final details on the two remaining professional contracts will be worked out in time for the players to be eligible for Saturday.

"I'm hopeful that it comes through today, but you never know," Anhaeuser said. "When you're talking about visas and international approval, it hinges on other people. So they've been in the process, we're hopeful that it's going to get done, and if it isn't, then unfortunately you've got to treat it like an injury."

This year's team stands out in the general manager's mind for its structure and depth.

Mike Anhaeuser

"It's starting to sort itself out a little bit earlier with our balance," Anhaeuser said. "We have two or three guys in each position who can really step up, and that's why it didn't matter who I played. College scrimmage, professional, they were able to do very well. We also have about four or five guys that are able to move positions and keep our levels very high.

"They've pushed each other. I think that's been a big part of this preseason, is players having to work and get themselves fit and show that they deserve a chance."

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