Preview: Charleston-Dayton

The Battery head up to Dayton, Ohio for another match with the Dayton Dutch Lions at Miami Valley South Stadium. Here's your preview:

Dayton Dutch Lions:
This Season: The Lions have only 8 points this season which puts them last in the National Division, as well as the league as a whole. Second to last is FC New York with 18 points. So as you can see Dayton is by far the worst team in the league. They have lost their last two matches against LA and Pittsburgh, but before those two matches they earned 3 straight draws. Keep in mind that Dayton has played 12 straight matches on the road, so this will be a bit of a homecoming.
Who's Playing Big: Well to be honest, nobody. The goals aren't plentiful with a team like Dayton, but their leading scorer is George Davis who hasn't scored in a few matches.
Who Need's to Step Up: Tough call here as it seems that there is a lot that the Dutch Lions could improve on. I'll go ahead and say that the back and their keeper need to play big if Dayton wants to finish with a respectable amount of points this season. They have given up the most goals in the league, with 39.

What to Expect:Starting XI:

Dykstra

Marples Falvey Wilson Zaher
Peverley Paterson Caskey Armstrong

Kelly Coleman

Zero changes from last week, and I really don't have too much more to say. I'd like to compliment Alex Caskey on his great performance against Wilmington last week. Caskey is really showing that he has the potential to be one of the top players on the team. Also, JC Mack will be returning from injury this week.

The Battery have played Dayton twice this year winning both matches. The first came in the second match of the season when the Battery defeated the Dutch Lions 2-1, and the second was a 1-0 home victory for Charleston.

Here's the Battery's preview.

The match will be played at 7:30 on Friday night, and will be on 1340 AM in the Charleston area, and will also be on USL Live.

If you need to contact me, e-mail me at SCSoccerblog@gmail.com. Also follow me on twitter http://twitter.com/#!/scsoccerblog.

Charleston Adds Two and Central SC Cobras Online Store Launched

Today the Battery came to terms with two midfielders, JC Mack and Alex Caskey. The two come to the Battery after successful preseasons.

JC Mack will be playing his first professional season this year with the Battery. Mack comes to the Battery from the Chicago Fire's Academy, having played with Chicago Fire PDL squad, and the Chicago Fire Super 20's.

Mack has played well in this preseason. He played in the Carolina Challenge Cup, as well as the 3 preseason matches; against Clemson, the Carolina Railhawks, and Cof C. In all of his appearances he scored 1 goal, in the match against College of Charleston.

Alex Caskey, a native of Georgia, comes to the Battery after a four year career at Davidson University in North Carolina. He never missed a match at Davidson, and was a four year starter. Last year he played with the Atlanta Blackhawks in the PDL, scoring 1 goal in 22 appearances.

These are two good young players and add depth to the midfield. I think that Mack could possibly play up front, or be in the front of the diamond in a diamond 4-4-2, or just as a forward.

Central SC Cobras FC has launched their online store. They look to have a lot of nice products for both men and women so make sure to check it out here.

If you need to contact me, e-mail me at SCSoccerblog@gmail.com.

Battery Defeat College of Charleston, Battery-Silverbacks Match Canceled

Today the Charleston Battery had a preseason scrimmage with the College of Charleston Mens Soccer Team at Blackbaud Stadium. Charleston won the match 2-0.

The Starting XI for the Battery was; Wiggans, Wiltse, Marples, Wilson, Flatley, Prince, Jackson, Caskey, Armstrong, Coleman and Bah.

The first half went without any goals and the two sides went into the locker room tied at 0-0.

The second half started off well for the Battery, with Stephen Armstrong netting an unassisted goal in the 50th minute.

In extra time, newcomer JC Mack scored a goal to put the Battery up 2-0, which would end up being the final.

The one thing that I will take away from this game, as well as the other preseason games, is that Stephen Armstrong is playing great. This season we are going to need an experienced player to be a leader on the team, and Armstrong is not only stepping into that role, but being one of our main goal scorers.

The Battery were set to play a preseason friendly this Saturday, March 26th against the NASL's Atlanta Silverbacks at Blackbaud Stadium, but this game has been canceled.

If you need to contact me, e-mail me at SCSoccerblog@gmail.com.