Charleston-Wilmington Recap and Charleston-Richmond Preview

Wilmington Defeats Charleston
The Battery headed up to Wilmington yesterday, and had to come home with a disappointing 3-0 loss to the Hammerheads. This loss drops Charleston to 5th place in the American Division with only 11 points in 9 matches.

Wilmington dominated the first 30 minutes or so, getting 3 corners and putting 2 shots on goal. They broke through in the 27th minute when Luke Mulholland knocked it in the back of the net off a pass from Andriy Budnyy.

Charleston would get a couple of chances, but they were few and far between. The best chance of the half came when JC Mack took a shot from outside of the eighteen that would sail just wide. This gave Wilmington the slight advantage at the half.

The Battery would put pressure on Wilmington in the second half, and thought they had equalized in the 72nd minute when Nicki Paterson volleyed a ball in from close range, off a scramble from a long throw in. After looking at the replay on USL Live, it is definitely not offsides. Paterson was even with one of the Wilmington players, and behind another. If you're interested in watching it yourself, go to the archived game on USL Live and the disallowed goal is around the 1:33 mark.

After John Wilson was sent off for a reckless tackle, the Battery's hopes were dashed. Wilmington would add two goals in the 85th and 90th minutes. The first was scored by Luke Mulholland and the second came from Jack Avisyan.

Goals will come, goals will come.

PS: Great showing by both the Wilmington fans, and the Regiment which made a bus trip up to Legion Stadium and the presence in the stadium was felt.

Scoring Summary	Goal (Assist)	Minute
Wilmington Hammerheads	Mulholland (Budnyy)	27
Wilmington Hammerheads	Mulholland	85
Wilmington Hammerheads	Aviyson	90
Team Summary	Wilmington Hammerheads
Players Brock Duckworth, Tom Parrat (Jack Aviyson 78), Gareth Evans, Ivan Beccera, Ryan Riley, Luke Mulholland (Wolfe Tanner 86), Paul Nicholson, Manny Guzman (Tom Taylor 70), Alex Grendi, Andriy Budnyy (Andres Curro 72), Chris Banks (Jyler Noviello 81) Players Not Used - Kyle Polack, Chris Murray SHOTS: 8 (Mulholland 5); SAVES: 2 (Duckworth 2); FOULS: 5; CORNER KICKS: 5; OFFSIDES: 0; PENALTY KICKS: (NONE); CAUTIONS: Parrat 45; EJECTIONS: (NONE)
Team Summary	Charleston Battery
Players Keith Wiggans, Colin Falvey, John Wilson, Nigel Marples, Mark Wiltse, Evan Taylor, Cole Peverley (Zach Prince 59), Nicki Paterson, JC Mack (Stephen Armstrong 71), Diego Walsh (Alex Caskey 81), Brandon Massie (Seedy Bah 74) Players Not Used - Jon Gruenewald, Sean Flatley, Kevin Jackson SHOTS: 5 (Massie 3); SAVES: 3 (Wiggans 3); FOULS: 7 (Taylor 2); CORNER KICKS: 3; OFFSIDES: 2; PENALTY KICKS: (NONE); CAUTIONS: Wilson 28, Marples 38, Taylor 55; EJECTIONS: Wilson 78

Charleston-Richmond Preview:
The Battery will again try to break their scoreless streak, this time at home against the Richmond Kickers.
Richmond Kickers:
This Season: The Kickers are still undefeated through seven matches, and have earned 19 points, which is good enough for 2nd place in the American Division. The second place standing is a little misleading, considering that league-leading Orlando City has played nine games to Richmond's seven.
Who's Playing Big: Matthew Delicate is still playing big, and is second in the league in goals. Other contributors such as Shaka Bangura and David Bulow (Each has 3 goals) have been contributing as well.
Who Need's to Step Up: Let me be blunt. This a well-oiled machine, and is they have the best side in the league. Goals come easy, defending comes even easier, we should be seeing Richmond go very far this year.
What to Expect:
Once again, it is looking like the old 4-4-2:

Wiggans

Marples Falvey Flatley Wiltse

Paterson Walsh Taylor Armstrong

Bah Mack

With Dykstra still out, Wiggans will get another start between the pipes.

Charleston's back is leaking oil, and will be much different from matches past. Wilson is out because of the straight red he received on Saturday. Zaher and Dugoni did not make the trip to Wilmington on Saturday, so they are both out. So Marples and Falvey stay on, while Flatley and Wiltse get rare starts.

The midfield is ailing as well. Peverley has been called up by the New Zealand National Team (We're very proud!), so he won't be available. New addition Diego Walsh played well Saturday, and should get the start along with Paterson, Taylor, and Armstrong.

Levi Coleman and Dane Kelly did not make the trip to Wilmington, so, barring a pair of surprise returns, we won't be seeing either of them. Looks like we'll see Seedy Bah and the versatile JC Mack will slide into those positions.

This may very well be Charleston's toughest match of the year. They're up against the best team in the league and have 6 players out. Hopefully they can find a point some how, but it's not looking to good.

The match will be broadcast on USL Live, and the Charleston Battery's twitter will be giving constant updates as well.

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