The Charleston Battery secured a 1-2 victory over Hartford Athletic on Saturday at Trinity Health Stadium. Charleston were off to a fast start after MD Myers’ goal in the 7th minute and Houssou Landry’s strike in the 50th minute proved to be the match-winner. The Battery held off Hartford’s late comeback bid and extended their undefeated streak in USL Championship play to nine matches.
After Hartford came out of the gate with some momentum on their side, it did not take long for the Battery to make their mark on the game.
Charleston’s first advance into the final third saw them break open the game via MD Myers in the 7th minute, taking an early 0-1 lead. The play was instigated by Michael Edwards winning the ball out of the defensive third before playing it to Houssou Landry on the other side to lead the advance. Houssou threaded a perfect through ball to Myers, and Myers outmaneuvered Hartford’s defense in the box and delivered a clinical finish.
The goal was Myers’ seventh of the league campaign and 10th overall this year.
Myers nearly doubled the Battery’s lead in the 12th minute when he went one-on-one with goalkeeper Antony Siaha, but the shot was saved this time.
On the other end, goalkeeper Luis Zamudio was active in keeping Hartford off the board. The shot-stopper made three saves in the first half, including two on shots from inside the six-yard box.
Charleston took the 0-1 lead into halftime despite conceding a majority of the possession (46.8% to 53.2%) and a lower xG (expected goals) rating of 0.47 to 1.39, conveying the Battery’s efficiency with the ball and their chances.
Play resumed for the second half with Charleston on the front foot.
It again did not take much waiting for the Battery to double their lead, as Houssou was the man to capitalize on the moment with a sensational strike in the 50th minute. The chance was created quickly after Cal Jennings’ shot was blocked and uncollected. Houssou stepped up, gathered the loose ball, and then sent a missile into the back of the net.
Houssou’s goal was his second of the year, and his second against Hartford after also scoring in the match on May 3.
Myers again almost scored his second goal of the night after his header in the 60th minute hit off the woodwork.
The hosts looked to stage a late comeback bid and managed to cut the lead in half via TJ Presthus in the 80th minute.
A notable moment came in the 82nd minute when Leland Archer entered the match off the bench, which marked his first appearance since April 26. Archer contributed a key defensive header in the 90th minute to break up a dangerous cross into the box by Hartford.
Charleston withstood Hartford’s last-ditch efforts for an equalizer and secured the three points in the 1-2 victory, their first triumph at Trinity Health Stadium since 2023. The win extended the Battery’s undefeated streak in league play to nine matches and completed the season sweep over Hartford.
The result advances Charleston’s record to 9W-2L-1D (28pts), placing them in second place but with a game in hand.
It was also the Battery’s 10th all-time win over Hartford since 2019.
Joey Akpunonu had a busy night against his former club and recorded a match-high 11 clearances, in addition to two tackles won, three blocks, three recoveries and four duels won.
Emilio Ycaza led the game with nine duels won on the night.
Head Coach Ben Pirmann and midfielder Aaron Molloy discussed the victory after the match, with key quotes to follow.
Coach Pirmann on his overall assessment of the match…
Big picture, it’s a crazy sport. Last week, we were very good and played a great game, but we tied and it felt like a loss. This week, we played a terrible game and coached a terrible game, and then we won. So, that’s full credit to the players, their togetherness and character.
I thought Hartford were fantastic. They out-coached us, they out-hustled us, they created lots of chances. They’re very athletic, they’re very direct going forward, and they won the duels. They did more than enough to put themselves in a spot to win the game. Luis [Zamudio] made some great saves, and then we had some good finishes.
Scoring early helps, but we just never really got our game going. They didn’t allow us to press them, because they went forward so quickly with a purpose. There were just a lot of ups and downs in the game. So, at the end of it, you’re happy to get three points on the road against a tough team, against really good players and a good coach. We’ll take the result and then regroup for Wednesday. So, not a great performance, but absolutely fantastic character, togetherness from the group, and some big plays to win the game.
Coach Pirmann on the next-man-up mentality of the team…
We’ve had that all year. We’ve had center-backs go down, we’ve had injuries, we’ve had international stuff, we’ve had everything going on. So, for us, it’s just about sticking to our principles and playing our game as much as possible. We knew that this was a playoff-level game against playoff-level talent on the road, a tough game. The onus is on us to win if we want to try to achieve some of our goals this year and you have to be tough. You have to be together.
If you’re going to summarize it, it was about the character of our players, the human beings behind the football, because we didn’t play great, and we definitely didn’t coach very well at all. And then at the end of the day, they found a way to win, which was the message after the Loudoun game.
So, the concept about the next man up has to be there. Everybody’s got to be prepared, everybody has to be ready, because we’re going to have to make changes on Wednesday, and then see what we have left for next Saturday at home.
Coach Pirmann on his message to his team after the victory…
We played great last weekend against an incredible Loudoun team and tied, and then this week, we played terrible against a really good Hartford team and a tough place to play and got the win. Sometimes that’s football, so we won’t dive into it too much. We won’t overanalyze it. Let’s just get better, get healthier, get fitter, get mentally and physically prepared for a big, long week on the road. Now, let’s go to a dangerous Miami team and try to win the game there.
Molloy on his overall takeaways from the match…
It shows that we are usually a team that’s on the ball a lot and creates a lot of chances, but I think tonight showed a lot of character and grit that the team has. I think that’s important. When we look back at the end of the season, these are the games we’ll look at that brought us stronger together, and it was a very important three points.
Molloy on capitalizing on the opportunities tonight…
I think we didn’t start as well as we could have. There was a great breakthrough, and we knew it was important to win, to force the second balls. Being away from home, especially a good side, a good home team, like Hartford, and MD capitalized as well, won his duel and got us up, got us up one-nil. Slow start, but we were happy to be up going into halftime.
Molloy on the importance of winning against Hartford…
Everyone knows it’s hard to win away from home in this league. And it doesn’t matter who you’re playing, home or away, you have to show up and be your absolute best. We battled hard for the three points, and the boys did really well. Now the full focus is on Wednesday. A really, really big game, Miami are flying, so we’re excited to go down there and be ourselves and hopefully get three more points.
I know that game in Loudoun, we didn’t come back with all three points. It kind of felt like a loss, because I thought we played so well, and then obviously tonight, it was another important away game in the league to get the win. So, we are very happy with tonight, but all focus is on Wednesday. We’ll put this one behind us, move forward, and go straight into Wednesday’s game.
Charleston’s next match will be away vs. Miami FC on Wed., June 18. The Battery are then back home on Sat., June 21, to host Phoenix Rising FC. Tickets for the rematch of the 2023 USL Championship Final, featuring post-match fireworks, are on sale now via SeatGeek.com, the club’s exclusive digital ticketing provider.
Lineups and Scoring Summary
Lineups
CHS – Zamudio, Houssou, Edwards, Akpunonu, Blackstock (Segbers, 82’), Allan (Dossantos, 66’), Molloy, Ycaza (Archer, 82’), Torres, Jennings (Rodriguez, 73’), Myers
HFD – Siaha, Scarlett, Diz Pe (Beckford, 46’), Presthus, Samadia, Hairston (Makangila, 69’), Ngalina (Obalola, 69’), Anderson, Careaga (Jimenez, 73’), Dieng, Edwards
Scoring Summary
CHS: MD Myers, 7’
CHS: Houssou Landry, 50’
HFD: TJ Presthus, 80’ (Sebastian Anderson)
