Friday, August 3, 2012
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The Charleston Battery tied the Wilmington Hammerheads 2-2 on Friday night at Blackbaud Stadium in front of 3,557 fans. Nicki Paterson and Taylor Mueller both recorded goals for the Battery but it wasn’t enough to edge past the Hammerheads. With the draw the Charleston Battery will remain in third position, three points ahead of fifth-placed Wilmington. 
The Hammerheads opened the scoring late in the first half with a goal from forward Andres Cuero. In the 35th minute Wilmington was awarded with a free kick 40 yards out. The ball was flighted into the box and cleared to Cuero, who blasted the deflection home past Battery goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra.
The Battery opened the second half strongly as Tony Donatelli took a bicycle kick from inside the six-yard box that was cleared off the line by a Hammerhead defender. Not long after, Navion Boyd placed a ball into Dane Kelly’s feet at the edge of the penalty area. Kelly flicked the ball on to Paterson, who found himself free on the left side and fired a shot past Alex Horwath to tie the match up in the 50th minute.
The Battery found success again off a free kick that Paterson ripped off the crossbar in the 77th minute. After several attempts to put away the rebound, Mueller was able to capitalize with a first-time finish to record his first professional goal. Four minutes later, however, Wilmington’s Steven Perry responded with a breakaway and slotted past Andrew Dykstra to even the score.
In the 89th minute the Hammerheads were forced to play down a man when Charles Rodriguez was ejected from the match, but the Hammerheads were able to hold on in stoppage time to earn a point.
The Battery square off with the Hammerheads again on Saturday night at Legion Field, followed by a two-game road swing. They conclude regular season play with a home match against the Dayton Dutch Lions on Saturday, August 18th at 7:30 p.m.