Battery's Scorless Streak Stretches to 405 Minutes in a Loss to FCNY

Last night, the Battery faced the expansion FC New York in front of 3,328. Up to that point New York had earned two points in 4 matches, had scored just 2 goals, and had earned a fifth place spot in the National Division. The Battery, who hadn't scored a goal in 3 matches, but hadn't lost a home match since the 2009 season would host them.

When you look at it that way it looks pretty even. One team that's apparently not very good, and one team that's been struggling. Seems like a fair fight to me.

But let's be honest, everyone and their grandma expected the Battery to win this. Even I, maybe the most critical person of all, suspected that the Battery were just in a bit of a slump. But this is not so.

Now its not time to panic yet, that's not what I'm saying. All I'm saying is that the Battery aren't as good as many, including myself, thought. There are some good pieces, Armstrong, Dykstra, Wilson, etc., and I do believe that they will make the playoffs, maybe they won't finish first or second, but they'll make it.

The point is, the Battery won't be winning by any huge margins, or going on a road trip and cleaning house, or having the league's leading scorer. None of that is going to happen.

What we will see for the rest of the season, is a team that will fight as hard as it can to find itself, find a scorer, and find some points.

Anyway onto last night's match. By the way I wrote the series of paragraphs above, you should realize that the match did not go in the Battery's favor.

The match started out well enough, defenders Marples and Falvey had a couple of chances in the first 30 minutes, and we saw the Battery dominate the first 30 minutes in both shots and possession.

New York would strike in the 35th Graciano Brito galloped onto a long ball and shrugged off tackles from John Wilson and Colin Falvey to put it in past Wiggans from about 10 yards out.

The Battery put in Dane Kelly for Seedy Bah up front, and Kelly made an immediate impact, getting some shots on goal, receiving some crosses, and passing decently.

Still the Battery couldn't equalize.

In the 90th minute, the Battery had their last chance to find an equalizer. Prince got the ball over on the left, and found a left footed shot on goal, but Steven Diaz saved it to deny the Battery a single point.

This is a disappointing loss, but the Battery just need to work on finishing. The Battery had 10 shots to New York's 3 and the passing was fine, they just need to tweak our boots a little bit.

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Scoring Summary	Goal (Assist)	Minute
New York	Brito	35
Team Summary	Charleston Battery
Players Keith Wiggans, John Wilson, Colin Falvey, Mike Zaher (Jon Gruenewald 85), Nigel Marples, Nicki Paterson, Kevin Jackson (Alex Caskey 45), Cole Peverley, Stephen Armstrong (Zach Prince 71), Levi Coleman (Brandon Massie 71), Seedy Bah (Dane Kelly 45) Players Not Used - Sean OConner, Mark Wiltse SHOTS: 10 (Falvey 3); SAVES: 1 (Wiggans 1); FOULS: 15 (Peverley 3); CORNER KICKS: 5; OFFSIDES: 1; PENALTY KICKS: (NONE); CAUTIONS: Armstrong 31, Falvey 67; EJECTIONS: (NONE)
Team Summary	New York
Players Steven Diaz, Troy Cole, Kyle Hoffer, Sam Stockley, Josiah Snelgrove, Steven Roche, Tadeu Terra, Quame Holder (Gary Boughton 84), Johnny Arteaga, Owen Morrison (Paul Shaw 65), Graciano Brito Players Not Used - Derby Carrillo, Sam Craven, Steve Covino, Karseten Smith SHOTS: 3; SAVES: 4 (Diaz 4); FOULS: 12 (Brito 3); CORNER KICKS: 2; OFFSIDES: 2; PENALTY KICKS: (NONE); CAUTIONS: Brito 17, Morrison 37; EJECTIONS: (NONE)

Highlights of the Charleston-Dayton Match

Here are the highlights I put together for last night's match against Dayton. Sorry about the poor and choppy quality, it was the best I could do.

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

USL Pro Preview: American Division

The first year of the USL Pro will definitely be an interesting one. With the 15 team league being divided into 3 divisions, I will cover each one separately in the lead up to the first game on Saturday, April 2nd. The final division we will look at is the American Division:

The American Division looks to be the best out of the three divisions in this year's USL Pro. The division is based in the Southeast, and contains 3 teams in the Carolinas, 1 in Florida, and 1 in Virginia. Here is how I think they will finish:

5. Wilmington Hammerheads: After a season off where it looked like the team would dissolve, the Hammerheads are back and ready to get back out on the pitch. They've already won the biggest battle, but can they come back with a full head of steam into the USL Pro? I think not. The Hammerheads lost most of the players from their 2009 USL-2 Regular Season Champion Team, and are basically starting over. Two players that are returning from that 2009 team are Chris Murray and Jyler Noviello. Murray was one of the brightest young stars for the Hammerheads in both 2008 and 2009. Noviello had 8 goals and 5 assists in 33 appearances for Wilmington in 2008 and 2009. Their main hope on attack seems to be Andriy Budnyi, who played well for the Carolina Railhawks in the 2010 season. The defense is fairly young, and goalkeeper Kyle Polak will have a huge task in keeping the goals out.

4. Charlotte Eagles: Last season, Charlotte finished 4 in the 6 team USL Second Division, 7 points out of the playoffs. Charlotte returns a lot of their team from last year's squad, in fact all 11 starters are returning. The depth was hurt a little, but that may not be a problem for the Eagles. Their two main losses were midfielders Chris Klotz and Chris Lemons. Former PDL Goalkeeper of the Year, Eric Reed will be in goal for Charlotte, and should put on good performances, assuming that the backline can stand strong in the toughest division of the USL Pro. Charlotte will have to see Orlando City fall out if they plan on making the playoffs, but this is unlikely.

3. Orlando City SC: Orlando comes into the league after making a move from Austin, Texas, where they were the Austin Aztex. They finished 2nd in the USL division of the USSF D2 Pro League. They brought many of the players from that team down to Florida, but Eddie Johnson, who scored 14 goals last season, moved on up to the Portland Timbers of the MLS. Jamie Watson and Maxwell Griffin will lead Orlando's attack, and scored a combined 20 goals last season. Or 10 each. The team is experienced, former Battery player Ian Fuller will be one of the leaders of the young team. One player that I'm excited to see is Devorn Jorsling, who has scored 13 goals in 24 games for the Trinidad and Tobago Senior National Team, including a hat trick against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

2. Richmond Kickers: Last year, the Kickers fell to Charleston in the USL Second Division Championship game. Richmond comes into this season looking for revenge, and didn't lose a starter from last year's runner up squad. The Kickers bring Nozomi Hiroyama to the squad this year. Hiroyama is the most experienced player on the squad, and even played 2 games for the Japanese National Team in 2001. Last year he played for the Japanese club, Thespa Kusatsu, scoring 3 goals in 73 appearances. They added Ryan Heins, who scored 5 goals for the Rochester Rhinos last year. Goalkeeper and Captain Ronnie Pascale returns to the Kickers for a 12th season. He has made 242 appearances in his career for Richmond, and will be the biggest leader on the team.

1. Charleston Battery: Now I may be a little bias, but I think that Charleston is the strongest team in the Division and one of the strongest in the league. Charleston won the USL Second Division Championship last year, over the Richmond Kickers. The Battery lost a lot of keys to that team, including forwards Tom Heinemann and Lamar Neagle, who both moved on to the MLS. Stephen Armstrong returns for the Battery for a 6th season, will be the captain of the team, and will take on assistant coaching duties as well as his playing duties. They add young promising players such as Dane Kelly and JC Mack, and I can easily see the Battery not only winning the American Division, but the whole league. The Battery have a good head coach in Mike Anhaeuser, giving them all the attributes to make a playoff run.

Tomorrow, I'll be doing a wrap up of the USL Pro, including my playoff predictions and how I think the league table will end up.

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

USL Pro Playoff Format Set

Today on the USL website, the playoff format for the 2011 USL Pro was announced. As mentioned in one of my earlier posts, the playoffs will consist of eight teams. Three teams from the American and National divisions will get spots in the playoffs, while two teams from the International Division will each get a spot. Here's what its going to look like:

The playoff system is odd to say the least. I'm not 100% why the International Division only got two spots in the tournament, but my best guess would be because of the distance these teams would have to travel form these games, or that the USL decided to focus on the teams that are on the mainland of the US (I know that LA is on the mainland, but you get the idea.) Also you couldn't have 3 teams from each, so apparently the International Division drew the short straw. Personally, I would have liked a six team playoff with the two teams with the most points left getting at large bids.

The playoff form is good for the Battery. Coming off a championship season, keeping the team from last year could be tough. Having plenty of wiggle room on the table gives Charleston a chance to make the playoffs, where they could easily make something happen. Three out of Five teams from the Battery's American Division getting spots, should make it somewhat easy for the Battery to make the playoffs. And if not, we can definetly be competitive.

For more information on the USL Pro, check the USL's website at http://www.uslsoccer.com/. If you have any questions, you can e-mail me at scsoccerblog@gmail.com

At A Glance: Battery 2011 USL Pro Schedule

Today on the USL Pro website, the schedule for the 2011 USL Pro season was announced. The league has surprisingly stayed at 15 teams, instead of becoming a 16 team league. The 16th team not meeting standards for the 2011 USL season, is the most likely reason. The league will be divided into three five-team divisions, based on their geographic location. The the three divisions are the; American, National, and International. They look like this:

This is the most logical way they could have divided the three divisions, and I would rather have three 5-team divisions, than four 4-team divisions. The main reason being that one way or another one division is going to have to go play LA and with all the Carribean teams playing them, LA's road trips could be a lot less costly.

But on to what really matters here: The Battery. Each team plays 24 game regular season, with 12 home matches and 12 away matches. Here's the Battery's schedule, followed by my thoughts:

Saturday, April 9 Charlotte Eagles 7:30 PM

Saturday, April 16 @ Dayton Dutch Lions 7:30 PM

Saturday, April 23 @ Richmond Kickers 6:30 PM
Friday, April 29 @ Charlotte Eagles 7:00 PM
Saturday, April 30 Pittsburgh Riverhounds 7:30 PM
Friday, May 6 @ Pittsburgh Riverhounds 7:00 PM
Saturday, May 7 @ Rochester Rhinos 7:00 PM
Friday, May 13 FC New York 7:30 PM

Saturday, May 21 @ Wilmington Hammerheads 7:30

Tuesday, May 24 Richmond Kickers 7:30 PM
Saturday, May 28 Harrisburg City Islanders 7:30 PM

Friday, June 3 @ FC New York 7:30 PM

Saturday, June 4 @ Harrisburg City Islanders 7:00 PM
Thursday, June 9 @ Sevilla FC Puerto Rico
Saturday, June 11 @ Puerto Rico United 8:30 PM
Friday, June 17 Dayton Dutch Lions 7:30 PM
Saturday, June 25 Pittsburgh Riverhounds 7:30 PM
Friday, July 1 Puerto Rico United 7:30 PM
Saturday, July 9 Orlando City 7:30 PM
Thursday, July 14 Wilmington Hammerheads 7:30

Saturday, July 23 @ Dayton Dutch Lions 7:30 PM

Saturday, July 30 Rochester Rhinos 7:30 PM

Saturday, August 6 @ Orlando City 7:35 PM

Friday, August 12 Charlotte Eagles 7:30 PM

Luckily we get to open the season at home, unlike the last three years. Going on the road for the first game is really just an inconvenience. Though last year we opened at Charlotte, which is an easy drive for the Battery fans, not only in Charleston, but for those in the Upstate. Opening on the road is tough, but this year will have the home fans to hopefully lead us to a successful beginning to the season.

Then, as we'll see many times this season, the Battery go on a long road trip. The first of these is in the second half of April, when we travel to Dayton on the 16th, Richmond on the 23rd, and Charlotte on the 29th. Having a road trip this early is challenging, but hopefully the Battery will be able to stay in the top part of the standings early. This is also an advantage. By getting our long road trips done early in the season, means that we have many more home games than away in the second part of the season.

After the game on the 29th in Charlotte, the Battery come back the next day and play at home against Pittsburgh. This starts off a two game series against the Riverhounds on April 30th and and May 6th. Pittsburgh was a USL-2 playoff team last year. They lost in the first round of the playoffs against Richmond.

Then its off to Rochester to play the Rochester Rhinos at Marina Auto Stadium. After playing them for 13 seasons we didn't get to face the Rhinos last year (as we were in the USL-2 and they were in the USSF D2 Pro League.) Last year, the Rhinos won the regular season title for the USL divsion of the USSF D2 Pro League.

After facing the Rhinos, we face the brand new franchise FC New York at home (I'll get to them a little later), followed by a trip to North Carolina to play the Wilmington Hammerheads. After playing 5 straight seasons in the USL Second Division, the Hammerheads had to cease operations for the 2010 USL-2 Season. Keep in mind this was a season after they won the USL-2 regular season title in 2009.

Then we come back home for two straight home matches. The first is against the Richmond Kickers, which the Battery faced in the USL-2 championship match last year. The Battery came out to be victorious in that match, but that gave the Battery a one game advantage in a series that dates back to 1993. After the Kickers, we play the Harrisburg City Islanders for the first time of the season. The Islanders played with Charleston in the 2010 USL Second Division season.

After the two game home stand, the Battery go on a four game road trip. The first match is at FC New York, which I touched on a bit already in this article, but here's the real lowdown: I think FC New York can be one of the most successful USL franchises. Lets think about this logically. We have a team that plays in Hempstead, New York (a Latino and immigrant heavy area of New York,) in a city that wants a soccer team in the actual city (the team will play at Hofstra University.) The New York Cosmos, which is one of the most likely 20th team in the MLS, is still 2-3 years off. So this is a chance for FC New York to get some real recognition in the city, for the simple reason of nobody wanting to travel to New Jersey to watch New York Red Bull play. Then the Battery go to the Harrisburg City Islanders. The Islanders are located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

After the first two games of this road trip being in the Northeast, we then go down to Puerto Rico to play our only two matches at one of the International Division teams stadiums. We first play at Sevilla FC Puerto Rico, followed by a match up with Puerto Rico United. Ah the memories in the Puerto Rico...

After our four game road trip, we get a very long home stand. This will consist of five games spanning from June 17th to July 14th. Here's how it will go: Dayton on June 17th, Pittsburgh on June 25th, Puerto Rico United on July 1st, Orlando City on July 9th, and we'll wrap up the home stand with Wilmington on July 14th. This will be good for the Battery, as a long home stand could give us a spark towards winning the regular season, or getting into the playoffs, depending on our situation.

With only four games left on the schedule, we have an away fixture with the Dayton Dutch Lions. Dayton was founded just in 2009 and this will be their first season of soccer. The team is supported by the Dutch team FC Twente, out of the Eredivisie. Then we play the Rochester Rhinos at home in our last match in July, on the 30th.

This will be followed by a trip to Orlando City SC. Well I'm torn on this team, as I'm glad to see another USL Pro team in the Southeast, but they also moved from Austin, Texas where they were the Austin Aztex. This was such a blow to Austin, and Texas soccer as a whole. Plus, the only reason they brought the team to Orlando, is so they could get an MLS team. Phil Rawlins said he wants to have Major League Soccer in Orlando  "within 3-5 years." I mean don't get me wrong, I want a MLS team in the Southeast, but taking a successful USL franchise and moving it for just that reason seems harsh to those fans in Austin. And to add to that, what will happen to this club if they do get a MLS club in 3 years? Will it disintegrate? Lots of mystery down their in Orlando. Plus they took Ian Fuller from the Battery.

Just like the 2010 season, Charleston will play the Charlotte Eagles at home in the last game of the season. Last year, the Battery clinched the regular season in that final game of the season. So again the Battery get to come home to end the season, and hopefully we'll be celebrating another regular season title.

The playoff system for the USL Pro has not been announced yet. But here's what I think a possible 6 team playoff would look like:

I think having 6 out of the 15 teams in the playoffs. This gives each division winner a playoff spot, with the team with the most points/best record playing one of the two "At Large's." It also allows the second place team from each division to get a spot, or possibly just the three teams with the most points/best record.

So just about wraps it up. More information on the USL Pro's schedule and the announcement of the playoffs can be found on the USL Pro's website. Be on the look out for my season preview and much more in the coming months. If you have any questions you can email me at scsoccerblog@gmail.com