USL Charleston Battery

Battery vs. Harrisburg Preview

Published on June 24, 2015 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Charleston Battery News Release


CHARLESTON - When last these two clubs met, the Battery were an undefeated, goal-scoring flying circus. Harrisburg City Islanders, on the other hand, just needed to stop the bleeding.

That was on April 4. Charleston had opened its season with two thrilling 3-2 wins - at home against Toronto FC II, and on the road against Charlotte. Harrisburg was coming off a season-opening 5-2 pummeling at the hands of cross-state rivals Pittsburgh Riverhounds.

Charleston won that first meeting 2-0 in a solid performance, but the Islanders never lost composure. A week later, Harrisburg returned to Skyline Stadium on City Island in the middle of the Susquehanna River and won its home opener over Montreal. Since their loss to the Battery, they've actually won more matches than Charleston has.

The Battery enter this match at a crossroads. The team sits near the top of the Eastern Conference standings, within five points of the first-place Rochester Rhinos (who visit Blackbaud Stadium next week) and just a point behind Richmond, with a game in hand on the Kickers.

Yet here's one of the strangest stats you'll read today. In its last two Open Cup matches - both played against teams from higher divisions of soccer - the Charleston Battery has scored more goals (7) than it has in its last seven matches against the USL (6).

There's nothing particularly wrong with the team. It's generating shots and chances, and generally keeping opponents in check. Saturday's 2-1 loss was the first time an opponent has scored multiple goals against the Battery since a 2-2 draw at Richmond on May 2 - eight games ago.

In short, the Battery are in a much better place at the midpoint of the 2015 season (6-2-6) than they were a year ago (4-6-4). But with Open Cup over and the team in decent health, will Saturday's match against an established USL club mark the start of a new chapter for Charleston? Or will the team's recent scoring slump continue?

SCOUTING CHARLESTON

The most obvious hallmark of the 2015 Battery? Group effort. The team's 21 goals (not counting an own-goal equalizer via Wilmington) have come through 11 different players. That's more than 60 percent of the outfield players on the roster.

Ten of those goals come from nominal forwards - Dane Kelly (4) and Heviel Cordoves (3) play at the top of the formation, with rookie Ricky Garbanzo (3) typically slotting in beneath them in a hybrid forward/attacking midfielder role. That's not bad production, either. Battery forwards have more goals than the entire Wilmington squad.

Yet since the beginning of the Battery's USL scoring slump (a 1-0 loss at previously winless FC Montreal on May 14), just two of the Battery's six goals have come from forwards.

That could well be the result of USL teams rejecting Coach Mike Anhaeuser's willingness to offer a more open game this season. True, the Battery have become conservative at times - the 1-1 draw with Richmond on June 10th at times resembled two samurai waiting for the other to make the first move. But giving the Battery less room to operate has paid off. In the first seven games, Charleston out-shot its opponents 83-55. In the last seven, that advantage fell to 74-65. Consequently, the Battery's goal differential dropped from +7 in the first quarter of the season to +0 in the second.

Their play in the Open Cup suggests Charleston's forwards are not the issue. In three Cup games, Battery forwards scored four goals, and Kelly's dominant performance in the team's comeback win over Fort Lauderdale earned him Player of the Round honors.

So how can the team break the USL gridlock? One answer could lie with fullback/midfielder Quinton Griffith. Griffith, one of the fastest players in North American soccer, returned to the Battery lineup last weekend for the first time since April 18. He and winger Navion Boyd represent the kind of shape-stretching pace that can open gaps for Kelly, or leave Cordoves isolated on a single defender. Central midfielders Jarad van Schaikand Justin Portillo have been in fine form lately, too.

Goalkeeper Odisnel Cooper got the night off Saturday after a grueling experience midweek against Orlando. He stands sixth in the league in save percentage, and is undefeated after 10 starts (6-0-4).

The team will be without midfielder Sebastien Thuriere, who is on Gold Cup duty with Haiti's national team. Starting fullback O'Brian "Obi" Woodbine, is on warning for yellow card accumulation. A caution on Saturday would cost him a suspension against Rochester.

SCOUTING HARRISBURG

The City Islanders arrive in South Carolina riding a streak of three consecutive draws, and undefeated in their last four. But their last game is a mixture of pride and regret.

Harrisburg playmaker Enric Valles found LaSalle rookie sensation Jason Plumhoff - a midfielder/striker - just before the half to give the City Islanders the lead over Rochester at home. But the undefeated Rhinos held Harrisburg at bay for the rest of the night and eventually earned an equalizer in the 87th minute.

Like Charleston, Harrisburg has a relatively small roster - leaving the team little margin for error, particularly when in comes to defenders.

Plumhoff has emerged as productive contributor in limited playing time, picking up 3 goals and 2 assists in just seven appearances. Meanwhile, Barcelona product Valles has emerged as an offensive leader, picking up five assists in nine games. USL veteran Yann Ekra remains a stud as a wide midfield, earning recent Team-of-the-Week honors.

Nick Noble lacks great statistics this season, but has continued to build a reputation in USL as one of the league's most reliable goalkeepers. The 6-4-inch, 30-year-old has been a Battery-killer over the years. He logged four saves in each of the City Islanders' last two matches.

Only Toronto FC II has played fewer matches than Harrisburg (11), a fact that distorts the anomalies projected upon the club by its two defeats (5-2 in the season opener, and a come-from-behind 6-5 shocker on May 30) by Pittsburgh. The City Islanders enjoy a +2 goal differential, but take away the two high-scoring losses to the Riverhounds and Harrisburg emerges with one of the best goals-against averages in USL. Without the Riverhounds, Harrisburg's goal differential improves to +6, with an average goals allowed of just 0.778.

Much of their success accrues to longtime coach Bill Becher, who took the City Islanders from an afterthought playoff seed in 2014 to the USL Championship game. The underdog Islanders lost at Sacramento.

The team is affiliated with the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer.

Charleston and Harrisburg will complete their three-match 2015 series in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, July 8.

Check out the Charleston Battery Statistics

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from June 24, 2015


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