Molloy and Markanich Lift Battery Past Tampa Bay, Advance to Conference Final

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Charleston Battery

Molloy and Markanich Lift Battery Past Tampa Bay, Advance to Conference Final

November 10, 2024 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Charleston Battery News Release


CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Charleston Battery completed a sensational comeback 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rowdies in front of a sold-out crowd of over 5,000 at Patriots Point in the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the USL Championship Playoffs on Sunday. After going down 0-1 before halftime, Nick Markanich tied the game in the 50th minute and Aaron Molloy scored the winning goal in the 83rd minute with a free kick for the ages.

The result punches Charleston's ticket to the Eastern Conference Final on Sat., Nov. 16, against Rhode Island FC at Patriots Point.

The afternoon got off to a physical start as both teams recognized the high stakes of the day. Neither side recorded a shot in the opening 10 minutes. A fine intervention by Jay Chapman in the 6th minute denied Tampa Bay a potential counterattack.

A seven-minute pause in play occurred after a collision during a corner kick in the 12th minute. Tampa Bay's Danny Crisostomo required attention from the medical staff but he and the game would carry on again in the 19th minute.

Jackson Conway nearly broke open the game with an opportunistic strike from outside the box in the 20th minute, but his attempt was saved by goalkeeper Jordan Farr.

Tampa Bay managed to score first via Manuel Arteaga in the 30th minute.

Down a goal, Charleston were resolute to get back onto level terms with the visitors. Juan David Torres tested Farr in the 32nd minute, however the attempt was saved.

Torres then connected with Nick Markanich in the 35th minute and Markanich's header forced a decisive save by Farr. On the ensuing corner kick, Conway's volley strike off the rebound was narrowly saved. A minute later, Markanich put another header on target but it was blocked off the line by Crisostomo as the officials deemed the ball did not fully cross the line.

Goalkeeper Adam Grinwis came up with a massive save in stoppage time to deny Cal Jennings from point-blank range. His save and that moment would prove to be decisive at the end of the afternoon.

Charleston trailed 0-1 at the break but gained momentum in the latter stages of the first half to build on for the second half.

Play resumed and the Battery applied pressure early while using the crowd's energy to push them forward.

The man of the moment all year long, Nick Markanich leveled the score in the 50th minute with a perfect header that Farr could only watch go into the net. Chris Allan played a perfect cross into the box for Markanich and the Battery's talisman would not be denied.

Markanich's goal was his 30th of the season. The assist was Allan's fourth.

Momentum firmly swung in the Battery's direction after Markanich's goal. Chris Allan uncorked a powerful shot in the 56th minute that was saved by Farr and Torres nearly put the Battery in front after a one-on-one with Farr, but his shot from inside the box struck the post.

The deciding moment of the night came in the 83rd minute after Arturo Rodriguez was fouled outside the box and Aaron Molloy stepped up to take the ensuing free kick.

From just outside the box, Molloy unleashed a missile toward goal that banked off the corner of the frame and went into the net, beating Farr's lunge to try to stop it. The sold-out crowd at Patriots Point erupted after what's sure to be the goal of the playoffs and one of the best of 2024.

The goal was Molloy's third of the year and heretofore his most impactful.

Tampa Bay, faced with the dissolution of their 2024 season, threw everything forward to grab an equalizer and force extra time. Charleston's defense held firm in the remaining seven minutes and stoppage time, including crucial clearances by Emilio Ycaza and Robbie Crawford, to deny the Rowdies an equalizer.

Charleston secured the 2-1 victory over Tampa Bay, completing the comeback and punching their ticket to the Eastern Conference Final for the second consecutive season. The Battery will have an opportunity to go back-to-back with Eastern Conference championships at home.

The next round will take place at Patriots Point on Sat., Nov. 16, against Rhode Island FC and kick off at 7 p.m. ET. The winner of that contest will book their place in the trip to the USL Championship Final on Saturday, November 23.

Charleston's victory was a testament to their determination, as the hosts out-shot the visitors 25 to 11, succeeded in the duels battle at 56% won and held 66% possession.

Head Coach Ben Pirmann, midfielder Aaron Molloy and forward Nick Markanich addressed the media after the match, with key quotes to follow.

Coach Pirmann on his assessment of the match...

There wasn't much new stuff. The first half was pretty significantly ours, really sloppy goal to concede. You got to give Jennings and Arteaga credit they're top All-League-level players for a reason, but we had the game in control. [Tampa Bay] were smart with the diagonals, they were smart with their level of pressure defensively. We started pushing them back far, [and] made two or three saves. They cleared two or three off the line. There wasn't a whole heck of a lot to change.

I think what happened was scoring in the first 10-15 minutes second half, great header by Nick, good overlap by Chris, who's doing well in that new position, was able to take a little bit of the pressure off.

We talked about that at halftime, there's 45 minutes left, if it takes 43 minutes, take 43 minutes. So, took 10-15 minutes then we just kept going and going. Then at the end there in the last couple minutes of injury time, you just have to hold on, because they're good, they're talented, and teams are playing for their lives with it.

Again, good performance, incredible atmosphere. Next week will be our seventh playoff game hosted on this field in the last 13 months and our third final. So we just want to keep playing hard. We want to keep going and reward these supporters.

Coach Pirmann on the comeback in the second half...

That's a great point, because as much as I said we were in control, another sloppy moment. Jennings gets in behind, and Grinwis makes the big save. We have big players for big reasons; Grinwis made the save, Nick scores the goal, Molloy scores the goal, Juan David is making passes on the overlap, Chris is getting across, Graham's winning headers, guys like Chapman, Arturo, and Emilio covering unlimited amount of ground. It's a team effort. Everybody has to go and everybody has to make those plays. We talk about little moments impacting big plays and big outcomes, so that's huge for us. Then the second phase is making sure that we just continue to stick to what we do well. I thought we did that immensely.

Molloy on his match-winning goal...

But I was feeling good over that one. We work on set pieces almost every week, sometimes twice a week. Felt good to get the winning goal.

Never that perfect at all. We have some days where they're good, some days where they're bad, but just super thankful to be in the final again next year. I definitely had a shot, but my whole idea was, if I under-hit it, maybe one of our lads could get in for a tap-in. But fortunately, it went in. Just aiming for the back post with a little bit of pace, trying to get it on target. If someone gets to tap in off it, great, if no one hits it, and I know it's a cluster for the goalkeeper, it's a headache.

You see it go in the back of the net, kind of chaos breaks out. It's probably one of the biggest moments in my career. Semifinal here at Patriots Point, special place to get this team back into a final again. It really means the world.

Molloy on the impact of the sold-out stadium...

The sold-out crowd means the world to us as a club, as players. When we went 0-1 down, we could really hear them cheer us on and that meant a lot. I don't know if the game's on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, next week, but really would like to get you guys out here again at Patriots Point and hopefully another trophy for Charleston Battery next week.

Markanich on advancing to the Conference Final again...

We have a great team and a great team bonding. It's always amazing coming in the locker room just amazing. We just come out here and play for each other. We never know when our last game would be with each other, because we have a couple games left and you lose and you go home. We just play for each other and make it all the way and play the most games out of everyone. It's important to us, so we just gotta keep winning.

It's amazing to go back again and bring another trophy home for the fans and for the community so that's what we're looking forward to next weekend.

Charleston's next match will be in the Eastern Conference Final against Rhode Island FC on Sat., Nov. 16, kicking off at 7 p.m. ET at Patriots Point. Tickets for the game are on sale now via SeatGeek.com, the club's exclusive digital ticketing provider.

Lineups:

CHS: Grinwis, Segbers, Allan, Smith, Chapman (Ycaza, 57'), Torres (Biek, 85'), Molloy, Markanich (Crawford, 90+2'), Rodriguez, Conway (Myers, 57')

TBR: Farr, Guillen, Kleemann, Doherty, Moon (Niyongabire, 77'), Bodily (Munjoma, 90+2'), Hilton (Worth, 68'), Crisostomo, Jennings (Rivera, 77'), Fernandes (Josh Perez, 63'), Arteaga

Scoring Summary:

TBR - Manuel Arteaga, 30'

CHS - Nick Markanich, 50' (Chris Allan)

CHS - Aaron Molloy, 83'

Check out the Charleston Battery Statistics

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