The Charleston Battery dominated Rhode Island FC en route to a 2-0 victory on Saturday at Patriots Point. Cal Jennings’ brace in the first half and Luis Zamudio’s clean sheet powered Charleston to their first three points of 2025.
The Battery started the match with plenty of motivation behind them, from looking to bounce back from the Week 1 result to exacting revenge from last year’s Eastern Conference Final.
Rhode Island nearly scored first after two minutes, but squandered the opportunity when their dangerous cross inside the box was met without a receiver to knock it in.
The Battery had a moment of their own minutes later, when Juan David Torres’ long ball over the top eventually got to Cal Jennings inside the box, but Jennings’ shot was cleared off the line by Clay Holstad. The pairing of Torres and Jennings began to overwhelm Rhode Island early.
Charleston broke the game open in the 15th minute when Jennings struck off a Torres corner kick to give the Battery a 1-0 lead. Torres’ corner kick was pawed away by goalkeeper Koke Vegas, but Jennings shielded the ball brilliantly and then turned and shot the ball into the back of the net.
The goal was the first for Jennings in Battery colors.
As the half wore on, so did the Battery’s pressure on the visitors.
It was essentially déjà vu for Rhode Island when the Battery doubled their lead in the 37th minute. Torres lifted a corner kick toward goal and Jennings was there at the near post to head it home and make the score 2-0.
The first half brace doubled Jennings’ goal tally for 2025 and the assist was Torres’ first of the campaign.
Charleston took the 2-0 lead into the break after holding Rhode Island to only two shots (0.07 xG) in the first half. The trio of Leland Archer, Graham Smith and Houssou Landry did amicable work to neutralize any advance by the visitors.
The Battery came out of the break swinging early, with Torres and Jennings leading the charge again. The Colombian played a sublime through ball to Jennings, but Jennings’ attempt for a hat trick was saved by Vegas.
Charleston’s defense would solidify more as the half wore on as they aimed to maintain the shutout. Goalkeeper Luis Zamudio made a crucial punch on a cross in the 53rd minute to keep Rhode Island at bay.
Johnny Klein nearly added a third goal for the Battery in the 67th minute when he sliced and diced through Rhode Island and into the box, but his shot was saved. On the opposite end, Klein blocked a Rhode Island shot in the 77th minute which was then cleared away by Houssou Landry.
Zamudio delivered in the 80th minute with a highlight-reel save to keep Rhode Island off the board. He again made a crucial save in the 88th minute to deny Joe Brito.
A noteworthy moment came in the 84th minute when Joey Akpunonu entered the game off the bench to officially make his Battery debut.
Charleston saw out the 2-0 victory, a bit of fitting revenge after last year’s Eastern Conference Final against Rhode Island. After two draws in the initial two meetings between the sides, the result marks Charleston’s first-ever win over Rhode Island.
The shutout was Zamudio’s first of 2025 and with the Battery. He recorded two saves, six clearances, one high claim and two punches in the evening.
Leland Archer recorded match-highs with seven clearances and four interceptions.
Juan David Torres led the game with four chances created.
Head Coach Ben Pirmann and Cal Jennings addressed the media after the victory, with key quotes to follow.
Coach Pirmann on the team getting redemption against Rhode Island…
Last year is over, they beat us and won the trophy and we didn’t. If we needed that for extra motivation this year, then so be it. Both teams are in 2025.
This is their first game, so they’re getting used to a few things. We needed to have a big response. It’s more about us, more about our actions, our attitude, our motivations and desire, versus our opponent. We knew going into the season, that we were playing probably the two best teams in the league. It’s good, it’s good. Three points, we’ll take it. Last year at this point, we only had two points. We just want to keep taking over and get better. And then in 14 days, we got to go to a tough North Carolina [team] and try to do it again.
Coach Pirmann on how an early goal set the tone for the rest of the game…
I don’t know when we scored our first goal, so I’m not sure if it was 15 minutes, we wanted to talk about our aggression, to be relentless, to play the game in their end, fight for goals, but also move the ball quickly, be vertical with our movements. We had two strikers up top that I think caused them problems with some physicality, because they’re good at that.
Then, the second phase was that we were breaking lines and turning and going. When you fight, it doesn’t matter the lineup and the systems and the strategy. When you fight, you’re going to put yourselves in good spots. I thought our front four with Juan David, Cal, Douglas, was exceptional tonight, and Johnny Klein. I thought they did a very good job impacting the attacking half. We obviously got to be sharper. We got to fine-tune some things and be a little bit more selfless. But our action, our activities in the final third were very good.
Coach Pirmann on the impact of the set pieces on the result…
Set pieces are a huge part of the game, 25 to 35% of goals come from a restart, so we got a goal last week and two this week. We want to keep pushing on Rhode Island and Louisville, the two best set piece teams in the league, so we had to do something a little bit. It was good to see Cal get two. In the second [half], almost got the breakaway to make it 3-0.
I thought it was a really good performance. The first half was completely dominant. [It was a] good response from a bad result, not necessarily a bad performance, but a poor result last week. Then beginning in the second half, we were really good. You have to be willing to suffer a little bit. I didn’t think we gave up the whole heck of a lot. Luis had to make a save and transition, and then some restart defending at the end. [I’m] excited for the group. Great result, excellent performance. Now we got a little break, and then we’ll get back at it in a couple of weeks.
Jennings on scoring a brace tonight…
You always want to open the account, you never really know when it’s going to be, so to get on the scoresheet tonight to help the team win, that’s an awesome thing, and moving us in the right direction.
We’ve spent a lot of time in training, working on it. We want to always get something out of a chance like that. Set pieces can be really dangerous opportunities and I felt like we executed really well. Juan served in a great ball and I’m just trying to do my role. Juan put it in a great place, and I saw it coming to me, and my eyes lit up, and I’m happy I got on the end of it. Always happy to score goals.
Jennings on the fan support at Patriots Point…
It’s massive. I mean honestly, their support is incredible. There’s a huge home field advantage here. To get a win for them is a real blessing.
Charleston will have a bye next weekend and their next match won’t be until the away fixture vs. North Carolina FC on Sat., March 29. The Battery’s next home match is on Sat., April 5, at 5:30 p.m. ET against the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Tickets for the home game are on sale now via SeatGeek.com, the club’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.
Lineups and Scoring Summary
Lineups
CHS: Zamudio, Blackstock, Archer, Smith, Dossantos, Molloy, Houssou, Torres (Drack, 89′), Klein (Akpunonu, 84’), Martinez (Ycaza, 75’), Jennings (Conway, 84’)
RI: Dikwa (Shapiro-Thompson, 78’), Okiyoshi (Stoneman, 70’), Kwizera, Ybarra (Herviaux, 57’), Rodriguez (Brito, 78’), Fuson, Sanchez (Williams, 57’), Nodarse, Yao, Holstad, Vegas
Scoring Summary
CHS: Cal Jennings, 15′
CHS: Cal Jennings (Juan David Torres), 37′
