USL PRO Feature
Sunday, August 26, 2012
For the Charleston Battery, midfielder Nicki Paterson has been in many ways the talisman that has guided the club. With 10 goals, and 22 points, the standout Scottish midfielder has scored brilliant goals, and made the difference in numerous games, helping the Battery earn the No.3 seed in the USL PRO Playoffs.
So while he had missed a penalty against the Dayton Dutch Lions in the Battery’s final regular-season contest, there was no doubt who was going to step up to the spot when Charleston had the chance to pull even with the Harrisburg City Islanders in the quarterfinals of the USL PRO Playoffs on Saturday night.
Paterson’s shot was fierce, low and true into the left corner of the net, and provided the impetus for the Battery’s 2-1 victory, and a place in the semifinals.
“I think it was tremendous for him, because he’s had a bunch of chances in the run of play, and sometimes things just don’t go your way,” Battery coach Mike Anhaeuser said by phone late on Saturday night. “Last week he had a decent penalty, but tonight he showed his character, and obviously why we left him on the penalty kick was he just has that ability. He’s been around for a while, and he really smashed it into the lower corner with authority, and that changed the game.”
A little over five minutes later, the Battery had the lead as a beautiful through-ball by Jose Cuevas played Tony Donatelli in behind the City Islanders’ defense, the veteran making no mistake on what would prove to be the game-winning goal.
The goal was emblematic of the Battery’s renewed attacking prowess this season, with the quick counter-attack having been one of the club’s biggest weapons this season. Following a 2011 season in which the Battery scored just 24 goals in 24 regular-season contests as they struggled to replace the MLS-bound Lamar Neagle and Tommy Heinemann, Charleston’s switch from being primarily a defensive team to a more balanced, and attacking, squad has been welcomed by the fans at Blackbaud Stadium.
“Last year, we had some young players up front, and we weren’t really able to score our chances, even though we did create some,” Anhaeuser said. “This year, we went out and we got some players to try and change that, and you look at a player like Nicki Paterson, who was with us last year, he’s stepped it up a notch, he’s kept it rolling from our midfield. Sallieu Bundu was here, and then transferred out, and of course Jose and the outside guys. Donatelli’s starting to score goals, as he has always done in this league, and Ryan Richter and our Jamaican players have really pushed us offensively throughout the season.”
The addition of Cuevas in particular has been a major boost for the Battery’s attack. Finishing his first professional season with seven goals and four assists, his 18 points being good for fifth in the league, the former Fresno Fuego standout has provided outstanding support to Paterson in the Battery’s attack.
“He’s a guy that you need to get the ball in the attack, and if we can get him the ball, or if he can get the ball, something good usually happens,” Anhaeuser said. “He’s one of those players that, when he gets it, he’s going to get a shot off. He makes a pretty good pass because he sees the field well, and I’ll tell you, put him around the goal and he can finish, which you’ve seen in there. He’s had a fantastic season, really deserves to be the rookie of the year because he’s had the best season of any rookie in the league. He’s put our team in this situation with his offensive ability.”
The Battery will now take aim at a place in the USL PRO Championship Game, with a visit to the No.2-seed Rochester Rhinos set for Friday night at Sahlen’s Stadium. The Battery will enter the game confident, thanks to their previous performances against the Rhinos this season, including a 4-0 win late in the regular season at Sahlen’s Stadium that clinched their place in the playoffs.
And while Anhaeuser expects the Rhinos to use that defeat as motivation to gain revenge, he believes his team has the ability to put in another strong performance and move on.
“I think it’s a double-edged sword” Anhaeuser said. “I think it’s definitely going to give our guys confidence, because we know even with the way we played here, we know we match up well, and we know we can get at them offensively and create chances, but it’s probably going to make them focus on the things they need to do defensively and the things to do to maybe cause us a problem.
“We have confidence, because we went up there and we did the job, but it’s a little different in the playoffs. We’ve got to go up there prepared, ready to defend properly, but at the same time hopefully our confidence comes in from the past that we can score goals against them, because you’ve got to score goals to win and move on, and we’re going up there to win.”