Los Angeles Blues News Release -- www.labluesprosoccer.com
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Blues will host the Charleston Battery in their penultimate of the USL PRO regular season on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. PT as they come off a hard fought 2-2 draw with the Harrisburg City Islanders this past Saturday night. Second-half goals by George Davis IV and Matt Fondy were good enough for the Blues to salvage a point and stay in contention for a spot in the USL PRO Playoffs.
Charleston will travel to Los Angeles with a confidence boost after handing the first-placed Richmond Kickers their first defeat of the season on Saturday night. That win gave Charleston an 11-6-6 record with 39 points, and they remain in fourth place in the USL PRO standings.
The Battery have several players on their roster who could pose a threat to the Blues. 2012 USL PRO Rookie of the Year Jose Cuevas proved on Saturday that he can be dangerous and unpredictable when he picked a ball off in midfield, which ended up being the catalyst to Charleston’s second goal of the game, scored by Michael Azira, who now has five goals on the season. Dane Kelly nabbed his team-leading eighth goal only three minutes into the second half, and midfielder Heviel Cordoves scored his seventh goal of the season for the Battery in stoppage time after coming on as a late substitution. Another player the Blues will need to contain is midfielder Nicki Paterson, who is second on the team in shots with 43, and is tied with Corovas with seven goals.
Davis and Fondy both netted their seventh goals on the season in their last game against the Islanders, with Fondy only having played eight games. Though coming on as a second-half substitute, Fondy made an impact upon entry and the Battery defense will undoubtedly look to hold him off when they visit Anteater Stadium on Thursday night. Leading the team with nine goals, Chris Cortez failed to make a huge impact against the Islanders, but he’s another player the Battery will keep their eye on, in addition to Gabriel Gonzalez, who can be difficult to contain for any team’s defense. The Blues will need to be cognizant of their play going into the match on Thursday, as they picked up 17 fouls, including six yellow cards on Sunday.
The Blues are 9-8-7 on the season and sit in sixth place with 34 points, and haven’t won a game since July 13th, when they shut out last place Antigua Barracuda FC 4-0. This next pair of games will be crucial for them to keep their playoff hopes alive, and head into the postseason with confidence.
Thursday night's contest at Anteater Stadium kicks off at 7:30 p.m. PT, and will be streamed online at USLNation.com.