LOUISVILLE, KY – The Charleston Battery lost, 1-0, to Louisville City FC in the USL Eastern Conference Semifinals at Slugger Field Saturday night. The loss eliminates the Battery from the playoffs, ending the Club’s season.
Louisville entered the game as the favorite, coming in as the number two seed in the East. The hosts saw more of the ball in the first half, dictating the pace of the game and forcing goalkeeper Alex Tambakis to make several saves. Tambakis was up to the task, preserving a shutout through the first 45 minutes.
Charleston looked dangerous on the counter attack in the first half, but were kept off the board. Gregory Ranjitsingh made two saves in the final five minutes of the half to send the teams into the break tied at zero.
Louisville City broke the deadlock in the 54th minute through Kadeem Dacres. Outside back Sean Reynolds played a long ball over the top to Dacres out wide on the right. Dacres drove towards the goal with speed, slipping a shot past Tambakis from a tight angle at the near post.
The Battery fought back hard for the rest of the match, but couldn’t find a way through the tough Louisville defense. LouCity held on to their 1-0 lead, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals against New York Red Bulls II. The two will meet at Red Bull Arena next Sunday at 6:30pm.
Box Score:
CHARLESTON BATTERY: Alex Tambakis, O’Brian Woodbine (red card, 90+), Taylor Mueller, Shawn Ferguson, Emmanuel Adjetey (yellow card, 67) (Forrest Lasso, 82), Dante Marini (yellow card, 62) (Andrew Carleton, 65), Zach Prince, Ataulla Guerra, Maikel Chang, Romario Williams (Ricky Garbanzo, 81), Chris Tsonis (yellow card, 25) (Heviel Cordoves, 65)
Subs not used: Odisnel Cooper, Robert Beebe, Jeffrey Otoo
LOUISVILLE CITY FC: Gregory Ranjitsingh, Kyle Smith (yellow card, 45), Sean Reynolds (yellow card, 90+), Paco Craig, Tarek Morad, Abend, Aodhan Quinn, Kadeem Dacres (goal, 54) (Andrew Lubahn, 87), Magnus Rasmussen (Ilija Ilic, 78), George Davis IV (Paolo DelPiccolo, 82), John Chandler Hoffman (Cameron Lancaster, 87)
Subs not used: Timothy Dobrowolski, Ben Newnam, Mark Anthony Kaye
