OPPONENT: Charleston Battery
RECORD: 2-1-2 (5th in East)
SUPPORTERS: The Regiment, Queen Anne’s Revenge, Charleston Barra Brava
After settling for a draw in Louisville the Hounds will head down south to take on the Charleston Battery Saturday night and a chance to earn their first three points of the season. Like the recap said, I think most would have taken a draw before the game, but losing a lead late is never easy.
So now on to Charleston, let’s take a look at how their 2016 campaign is going and how they’re looking. The Battery are in decent shape in the Eastern Conference with a 2-1-2 and are coming off a 2 game road trip themselves. Charleston lost to Charlotte 3-2 in what appeared to be their worst game of the season, but then recovered with a goalless draw in Bethlehem on Sunday. Keep an eye on the turf for the beginning of this one as Charleston have not played a home game in three weeks due to a large country music festival being held there at the stadium.
Charleston will again be a very strong defensive team and hard to break down, especially at home and this will prove to be a tough test for the Hounds. The center back pair of Shawn Ferguson and Taylor Mueller has good chemistry and is starting to find their form, one of the two have been named to USL Team of the Week, 3 of the 5 weeks of the season. They will be tasked with stopping Parkes and Hertzog, who looked potent on the break against LCFC midweek and let’s hope we see more of that on Saturday.
The goaltending position is a little precarious at the moment and there could be a little controversy with Odisnel Cooper getting the start over Alexander Tambakis in Bethlehem and keeping a clean sheet as well. Look for Cooper to start tomorrow, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was either.
On the offensive side of the ball, it’s another Jamaican striker, Romario Williams who will look to pressure the Hounds defense. He leads Charleston with 3 goals in 5 games, just as his countrymen Parkes does with us. The Hounds look shaky on set pieces once again this season, so look for Justin Portillo to deliver some dangerous service in those instances.
The “official” supporters group for the Battery is The Regiment, and to be honest I can’t really find any distinguishable information on them. They seem to have a little less numbers than the Army for home games. Blame this lack of knowledge on some half hearted research by me and a busy week on the work front lol. Some similarities I saw is they do smoke after each goal like us and also have a yearly foot golf event. They had a small group go up to Charlotte and enjoyed some tailgating with the home fans, always good to see some away support, no matter the size. The have a Derby Cup as well, with North Carolina neighbors Wilmington. I do look forward to the return game at Highmark as the Battery inspire one of the Army’s greatest songs.
Speaking of stadiums, the Battery call MUSC Health Stadium (formerly Blackbaud Stadium) their home. The 5,100 seat venue opened up in 1999 and was the first modern-era soccer specific stadium in the United States, beating out Columbus Crew Stadium by a month. The stadium features a pub called The Three Lions, and has been a crown jewel for lower division soccer since it’s opening. Definitely a place worth checking out if you ever get the chance.
That’s about it for the Battery, so let’s hope for a “power outage” on Saturday night (terrible) and our first three points of 2016. (Hope it’s the last time I write that lol)
#UNLEASH
