USL Charleston Battery

Montreal's Romario Williams Comes to Battery on 2016 Loan

Published on March 18, 2016 under United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Charleston Battery News Release


CHARLESTON - Montreal Impact forward Romario Williams, the No. 3 pick in the 2015 MLS Superdraft, will join the Charleston Battery on loan for the 2016 USL season, pending ITC approval, the clubs confirmed Friday.

The Impact announced earlier this month that Williams would go on loan for the 2016 season, but working out the details of the announcement took some time, said Battery General Manager and Head Coach Mike Anhaeuser. Part of that is simply a function of international work visa requirements. Williams is a Jamaican who has been working in Canada. His final travel itinerary is still in flux, but the Battery hopes to introduce Williams to his teammates next week, prior to the USL Season Opener on March 26 against FC Cincinnati (tickets here or over the phone at 843.971.4625).

The former University of Central Florida star and current Jamaican U23 International was one of five prospects to sign Generation Adidas contracts with MLS in 2015. He logged seven MLS minutes in two appearances with the Impact (six of them in a 2-2 draw with Orlando City SC on March 28), and had seven starts for FC Montreal, the Impact's USL club, posting one assist and six shots in 515 minutes of play.

Battery fans may remember him as the star of the 2014 Orlando City U23 team, which became the only semi-professional club in Battery history to advance in a U.S. Open Cup match at MUSC Health (then Blackbaud) Stadium, on May 28, 2014. Williams gave his PDL team the 1-0 lead, and when the game ended in a 2-2 draw, he hit both his shots from the mark in the resulting 14-round shootout.

Battery Anhaeuser likely will enjoy coaching Williams more than coaching against him.

"(One) good thing is, we've seen him," Anhaeuser said. "We know what he can bring. He's got a lot of pace, power. Can play on the wing or up top, which is what he did when he played against us two years ago in the Open Cup. So he has some tools that can fit in nicely with what we have already."

That versatility may have complicated Williams' first year as a professional.

"If you're looking at him as a No. 9 (center forward), he's going to have to play there, and it depends on the style that you play," Anhaeuser said. "If he goes out wide, that takes a little while to get used to, maybe a couple of years, because it's not an easy position to play. So we'll look at him, see where he fits, but obviously he's going to be beneficial."

Anhaeuser avoided making a direct comparison to departed Battery leading-scorer Dane Kelly, a fellow Jamaican who left Charleston for Sporting KC's USL expansion club Swope Park Rangers in the offseason. But he acknowledged parallels in both power and pace. "He was able to out-run our guys. So he brings that ability right off the top. Otherwise, we're just going to take some time to get him in with our guys and get him comfortable, but he should be able to step in and have an impact right away."

Williams enters one of the most spirited competitions of the 2016 Battery offseason, where multiple prospects and returning players have auditioned for a spot in the forward rotation over the past eight weeks. With Kelly no longer in the mix, multiple slots and roles are up for grabs.

"It's tough," Anhaeuser said. "We've got a couple players coming in, obviously Romario being one of them, and then we've got a couple of others still on the table. So we could have four or five guys deep up front, with a couple of those players being able to play out wide. But you've got to have at least four good forwards, or five, because it's a position that sometimes guys go down, or guys need a break. So I think we'll have a lot of competition, a lot of quality.

"We've already got Ricky (2015 Newcomer of the Year Ricky Garbanzo), and Cordoves (three-year Battery veteran Heviel Cordoves) and if we pick up Ataullah (Trinidad and Tobago International Ataullah Guerra), depending on where we play him, we're sitting two or three deep. If we get two or three more good ones (up top and out wide), we're going to have some depth at that position."

The native of Portmore, Jamaica, comes from a soccer family. His father, uncle and two brothers have all played professionally. He began his college career at UCF as a holding midfielder before transitioning to a striker role. He scored seven of his 18 NCAA goals in his final season (as a junior).

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