The Charleston Battery played San Antonio FC to a 1-1 draw on Saturday at Toyota Field. The hosts were in dire need of a result to keep their playoff hopes alive and jumped ahead 1-0 shortly after halftime. However, a sensational goal from long range by Juan David Torres in the 84th minute earned the Battery a point in Texas.
It was a rather nervous start for both sides, as Nathan Dossantos picked up the first yellow card of the night just two minutes into the game while San Antonio’s Burá was booked in the 7th minute. Charleston held over 67% possession and recorded four shots through the first 15 minutes.
As the half wore on, both defenses firmed up as neither offense managed to create promising chances in the final third. No shots were registered for nearly 20 minutes in the middle of the half.
Goalkeeper Adam Grinwis made a crucial save in the third minute of stoppage time to keep the hosts off the board. Grinwis went full-stretch on his dive to deny Luis Solignac.
The first stanza would end all square and scoreless. A total of four yellow cards were shown in the first half, two to each side.
Play resumed with Grinwis being tested immediately by the hosts. The goalkeeper made another sensational diving save, this time in the 47th minute on Nelson Flores’ shot.
San Antonio managed to take the lead in the 51st minute via Jorge Hernandez to make the score 1-0.
The Battery were quick to fight back in search of an equalizer. A contentious moment came in the 62nd minute when MD Myers was clipped in the box by goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega while going for the ball, but no penalty call was given despite appeals from Charleston. Myers was the only one to make contact with the ball.
After knocking on the door several times, Charleston pulled level in the 84th minute with Juan David Torres’ missile off a free kick from roughly 30 yards out. Torres’ goal went to the top corner, beating the reach of the newly substituted goalkeeper, Brandon Gongora.
The goal was the fourth of the season, all of which have come from outside the box.
Jackson Conway nearly gave the Battery the lead just minutes later, but his header was saved by Gongora.
Charleston ramped up the pressure in search of a winner with at least nine minutes of stoppage time added. Their best look came in the 99th minute when Torres caught San Antonio off guard with another free kick, this time delivering service to Nick Markanich. However, Markanich’s header went just fractionally wide of the frame.
The 1-1 scoreline held through the end of the additional stoppage time incurred during the initial slate of added minutes. Both sides walked away with a point after having a number of chances to grab a winner. The Battery held about 70% possession over the course of the match.
The result moves Charleston’s record to 15W-4L-8D (53pts), placing them second in the Eastern Conference.
Midfielder Jay Chapman turned in a quality night on the stat sheet, leading the match in tackles won (three), interceptions (three), duels won (seven) and accurate passes (81).
The night was also a notable one for Battery captain Leland Archer, who made his 150th USL Championship regular season appearance.
Head Coach Ben Pirmann and midfielder Jay Chapman discussed the match after the final whistle, with key quotes to follow.
Coach Pirmann on his assessment of the night…
At the end of the day, it was not a bad result. It just wasn’t quite enough, whether it was the bounces and the posts and the calls or not being patient enough. But, I’m proud of the boys, they worked their tails off. There were some good performances, especially, Robbie [Crawford] who stepped in to play right back without [Mark] Segbers. Everybody gave their all, it just didn’t quite go our way.
It was a unique game because [San Antonio] are so physical and they have such a distinct style of play. They’re fighting for their playoff lives and for us, we wanted to try to play the game on our terms. It was very difficult, but at the end of the 90 minutes, it was a solid performance, but not enough to get all three points. If we keep playing like that and have good responses, we’ll win a lot of games.
Coach Pirmann on what sparked the late comeback push…
The change happened, honestly, straight away after we went down one-nil. We were on top of them. When Emilio [Ycaza] went into midfield and Jackson [Conway] went up top, they had fresh legs with quality. Emilio brought us some verticality with his movements, and Jackson, after MD wore them down a little bit, was able to use his physicality. We really went for it with Prince [Saydee] as a left wingback to give us width and attack in that left channel.
I think what changed the game was when they scored. We played with more balance of courage and patience. We made good movements and we got into really good, dangerous spots. Whereas in the first 50-55 minutes, we weren’t quite arriving to the right spots. They scored in the first six minutes in the second half and then we got back on top of them.
Chapman on the early difficulties against San Antonio…
We started the game well. We were doing what we had been working on in training all week, but they are a good team, especially at home. I know that their record doesn’t show that this year, but they have good players. It was obvious to tell that they were, they were kind of sitting in their box. They were locking things down defensively very well due to sitting in a low shape and trying to hit us on the counter. That’s always tough to play against, especially away from home. We were a little impatient at the beginning and we needed to swing the ball a little bit more and look for high-quality chances. We were settling for half chances. Once they scored, they extended a little bit and that opened up little spaces that we had been hoping to create throughout the game.
Chapman on the overall takeaways from the match…
Definitely a little bit of frustration for sure. As a group, we talked about how it was a good performance, could have been a little bit sharper in the final third, in some key moments, but it’s a tough place to play. They have a good fan base and they are a good team, and they’re not having a good year. So, this was a playoff game for them, they’re fighting for their season. That’s that’s always tough to come into. The team’s not down. We’ll take the point and prepare for a good Sacramento team.
It was a great reaction from the team. It was important for us to take away what we learned from that game. And, it was a little bit of a practice playoff game for us, we did well and we know what to work on.
The Battery return home on Sat., Sept. 7, to host Sacramento Republic FC for Kick Childhood Cancer Night at Patriots Point. Tickets for the game are on sale now via SeatGeek.com, the club’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.
Lineups and Scoring Summary
Lineups:
CHS: Grinwis, Crawford, Archer (Saydee, 82’), Smith, Dossantos, Allan (Conway, 70’), Chapman, Rodriguez (Drack, 89’), Torres, Markanich, Myers (Ycaza, 70’)
SA: Sisniega (Gongora, 82’), Taintor, Burks, Manley, Blanco, Hernandez, Bura, Buckmaster, Haakenson (Boni, 90’), Chol (Agudelo, 51’) (Mbongue, 90 +12’), Solignac
Scoring Summary:
SA – Jorge Hernandez (Juan Agudelo), 51’
CHS – Juan David Torres, 84’
