Wednesday, June 5, 2013
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The Charleston Battery were held to a 2-2 tie by the Charlotte Eagles on a rainy Wednesday night at Blackbaud Stadium. Charlotte scored early to open the game up and once more late in stoppage time to tie the game. Battery midfielder, Heviel Cordoves, had a goal and assist for the Battery as they rallied from a halftime deficit, but were unable to hold on to claim all three points.
The Battery’s record turns to (6-3-2) as they move into sole possession of fourth place in the USL PRO standings. Charlotte goes to (3-2-5), the Eagles remain in eighth place of the USL PRO table.
“You really want to get those three points at home and sometimes, especially for the players, it can be harder to swallow than a loss," said Battery coach Mike Anhaeuser. "But it’s not a loss and we will move on and work on our mistakes.”
The Eagles found the back of the net early in the match with a goal in the 14th minute. Midfielder Juan Guzman was able to slot a pass in behind the Battery defense for Stephen Okai, who chipped it over Charleston goalkeeper Odisnel Cooper for the goal.
The Battery were able to hit back in the 61st minute as Cordoves powered a beautiful shot into the upper-right corner of the goal from distance to even things up for the Battery. The goal was Cordoves’ second of the season. Dane Kelly tallied his team-leading fourth goal of the season eight minutes later as Cordoves played a lovely ball through the middle of the pitch for the Jamaican, who beat the last defender and lobbed it over Charlotte goalkeeper Eric Reed to give the Battery a 2-1 advantage.
The Battery held onto the lead up until the end of regulation before Charlotte played a hopeful ball into the box which was deflected once and then headed home by Drew Yates close to the left post to tie up the score 2-2 in stoppage time. Charleston attacked in the remaining moments of stoppage time and earned a late corner kick, but the final attempt came back off the crossbar, leaving the game deadlocked.
The Charleston Battery will be back home on Saturday night as they host Major League Soccer’s Houston Dynamo Reserves; gates open at 6 p.m. with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. (1450 AM WQNT).