USL Charleston Battery

Battery vs. Riverhounds Preview: Playoff Pressure in Pittsburgh

Published on September 3, 2015 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Charleston Battery News Release


CHARLESTON, SC -- When the Charleston Battery step onto the artificial turf at Highmark Stadium in downtown Pittsburgh Saturday night (7 p.m. kickoff, webcast live on the Pittsburgh Riverhounds YouTube channel), the third-best defense in USL will meet the league's second-best offense.

With the USL Eastern Conference's playoff scenarios constricting with each new result, the margins of error for both teams in the second Pittsburgh-Charleston match of 2015 are sharpening to a razor's edge. Charleston (10-6-9, 39 points) enters the contest tied with New York for third in points, and with possession of the final home playoff slot on tiebreakers. Pittsburgh (10-9-5, 35 points) moved into the sixth and final playoff position last week with a huge 1-0 win at Louisville, then retained it Wednesday night when the Coopers turned back the seventh-place Harrisburg City Islanders (10-10-4, 34 points).

The Battery will fly to Pittsburgh on Friday off a good week of training, but depleted by two injuries and two international call-ups. Last weekend's 2-0 win at Richmond rinsed away the bad taste of a six-game winless streak in which the Battery routinely played well enough to earn points and wins, but repeatedly came up short.

Reinforced Pittsburgh enters this one with three wins and only loss in their last five, and with remaining games at Wilmington, at home against Rochester, and away at Harrisburg.

"They have a chance to be in the playoffs, and that makes it better for the players, for the league," Battery Coach Mike Anhaeuser said this week's opponents. "They're not going to give up. They're going to play down to the wire."

SCOUTING THE BATTERY

The last time Charleston played Pittsburgh, the Battery turned in what might well be their most complete performance of 2015, going up 3-0 before settling for a 3-1 home win on May 9. That was Pink Night, before Charleston's first loss, at a time when three-goal outputs were more rule than exception.

With sturdy support from central midfielders Justin Portillo and Jarad van Schaik, the defensive corps of Odisnel Cooper, Emmanuel Adjetey, Shawn Ferguson, Taylor Mueller and Obi Woodbine managed to limit the visiting Riverhounds to an astounding four shots. The Riverhounds had not yet settled into consistent quality play in early May, but arrived in Charleston averaging 2.5 goals per match. Then, as now, Coach Mark Steffens' team was built around the talents of high-scoring veteran midfielder strikers Rob Vincent (18 goals) and Kevin Kerr (9 assists).

In terms of personnel, Anhaeuser's Battery features no new names, although the slim chance of a late-arriving loan still hangs on the horizon of possibility. The challenge for Anhaeuser will be assembling a lineup from a roster that leaves him few options on defense -- and zero depth at a key position.

The problem begins with fullback Obi Woodbine's knee. He's expected to be available for the Sept. 5 showdown with Louisville at MUSC Health Stadium, but the Jamaican veteran won't be making this trip. With Opening Day starter Quinton Griffith available to take his place over the past few weeks, the Battery saw no drop-off at right back. But Griffith will be captaining Antigua & Barbuda against Guatemala on Saturday afternoon, while versatile midfielder Sebastien Thuriere travels with Haiti to Grenada for Friday's first leg in their home-and-away World Cup Qualifier.

That doesn't leave Anhaeuser the luxury of multiple options on the right.

"I'm not 100 percent sure what we're going to do yet," Anhaeuser said. "Q is out. Obi's injured. (Center Back Taylor Mueller) has played there at right back, (We can put rookie center back) Forrest (Lasso) in the middle, and (midfielder Zach Prince) has played at right back two or three games for us, too. So we'll have to look at it, try to make the best decision that we can."

The good news is that after weeks of producing good attacking numbers but few goals, the Battery has rediscovered the ability to put shots past goalkeepers. Over the past three road matches, the club has picked up two penalty kicks by Portillo, plus memorable finishes by midfielders Maikel Chang and Zach Prince. Forward Heviel Cordoves, who made a surprise start at St. Louis, also chipped in.

Absent from that production, though, has been Battery leading scorer Dane Kelly. Kelly trails only USL scoring leader Matt Fondy in shots per match, yet hasn't put one in the back of the net since his game-winning goalazo on July 18. In the seven games since that 1-0 win over Wilmington, Kelly has actually increased his shot output (to 4.57 shots per match, raising his season average to 3.65) logging 32 shots (37.5 percent on goal) despite not firing a single attempt in last week's win.

Kelly's frustration began after he surged near the top of the USL scoring table, attracting the attention of every opponent's game-plan. Now that his teammates are starting to finish their chances, rolling the dice on defenders emphasizing Kelly takes on a higher risk.

In the meantime, the Battery has survived via defense.

"We just played a Richmond team that's fantastic at home and scores a lot of goals at home," Anhaeuser said. "So we know what we have to do. Pittsburgh's not an easy place. They are clicking at home and scoring a lot of goals, but the thing is, we can match it. We can score goals. We've been maybe missing here or there, but if they open up against us, we can score four of five. We know we have to score goals and make it dangerous for them. We're not going to go in there and just defend. That's not our plan and never has been."

SCOUTING PITTSBURGH RIVERHOUNDS

While Steffens will trot out familiar faces from his 3-1 loss at Charleston, he's also bolstered on defense by a couple of big USL names that weren't available in May.

Veteran Sterling Flunder, 29, is back in the Riverhounds defensive rotation, as is 25-year-old former Houston Dynamo defender Anthony Arena. Neither was available for that first meeting, when the biggest name on the Pittsburgh back line was right back Matt Dallman, a former midfielder with a knack for the well-placed cross.

They're joined by 24-year-old prospect Ben Newnam. Newnam is an interesting story: Coached by Steffens last season at the now-PDL Charlotte Eagles, Newnam signed with expansion Charlotte Independence this year. He was promptly snatched up by Independence MLS affiliate Colorado Rapids, which then loaned him back to Charlotte for much of the season. But when Colorado cut ties with him in August, Newnam signed with his old coach in Pittsburgh, leaving Charlotte in the lurch.

With better options available along the back line, Steffens' unit has improved, allowing just one multi-goal game to an opponent in their last five matches.

The team plays a nominal single-forward set, but since Brazilian No. 9 Vini Dantas picked up a heel injury last month, the result looks much more like a freewheeling 4-6. Forward Michael Green has been Dantas' replacement, but he's more likely to interchange with the attacking midfield corps, with features Vincent and Kerr, but also benefits from the clever passing of Lebo Moloto.

Danny Earls remains the rock in the midfield, and goalkeeper Ryan Thompson is in fine form after leading Jamaica past the United States in the Gold Cup.

What Steffens does with Vincent could be the most interesting tactical choice of the night. Early in the season the former Everton prospect figured primarily on the outside, but he's been working closer to the center in recent weeks. That's not been the easiest place to find daylight against the Battery recently, as Richmond's Jason Yeisley and Matt Delicate can attest.

Anhaeuser said the Battery's performance at Richmond laid the groundwork for this week's game plan.

"(Richmond) had shots, but it's not like they pummeled us, and we want to do the same thing in Pittsburgh. We know they're going to attack, we know we've got to play well, and not have those mistakes and little things go against us. And if they do, we're going to come back do something about it.

"We know we're not in the clear. We talked to the players (before Richmond and told them) we want to treat these (last four regular-season games) like a four-game round robin, like a playoff. We obviously want to win our games at home, but we knew if we could get results on the road, we'd be in a good position for that third or fourth seed."

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from September 3, 2015


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